A Different Start
by SaruXIII
Summary: Naruto graduates a year earlier then in the manga and gets a different sensei and a different team. ***DISCONTINUED***
1. Graduation

**A.N. Yo! How's it going everyone? This is a re-post of chapter one, because I decided to re-write it to bring it more up to date with my writing style. If you've read the chapter before, feel free to skip this one over. Nothing major will be added.**

**Another note, chapter five will be up within the next few days. I'm putting the last few touches on it. Then its off to my beta and then onto the net. The hiatus is almost past. In the mean-time, enjoy this revamped version of chapter 1 if you like.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

OoOoOoOoOo

The small apartment filled with the blaring ring of an alarm clock, forcing the young blonde in the room from his blissful sleep. He grumbled, sitting up in bed and grabbing the clock from his nightstand. He flipped the switch on its back, cutting off the noise, and yawned, stretching his arms over his head, before swinging his feet over the edge of the bed and standing up.

Scratching his head, Naruto walked into his bathroom. He stopped in front of the sink and picked his toothbrush up from its place by the bar of soap. After quickly brushing his teeth and rinsing out his mouth, he took off his pajamas and jumped into the shower. A few minutes later, he stepped out into the steamy bathroom with a towel tied around his waist.

Opening the bathroom door, he went to the kitchen and put a pot of water on the stove before walking over to his dresser. He put on a pair of black pants and slipped an orange t-shirt over his head. Making his way back over to the kitchen area, Naruto knelt by the counter and pulled out two cups of miso flavored ramen noodles. Setting them on the counter, his gaze drifted up to a small calendar that hung on the wall, multiple Xs crossed over the days that had passed.

He suddenly let out a whoop of laughter and jumped in the air. "That's right! Today's the graduation ceremony! Look out world, Uzumaki Naruto is about to become a genin! Ha!"

Glancing over at his bedroom door, a thought crossed his mind. _Well, I have been looking for a good excuse to wear those. Now's as good a time as any I suppose. _Pulling the orange shirt over his head as he went, Naruto walked away from the kitchen and back into his room. He stopped in front of his dresser and opened the second drawer from the top, pulling out a sleeveless black shirt and an orange vest. He slipped the shirt over his head and shrugged into the vest. Turning, he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Wow...I look almost like a ninja! I just need a forehead protector and it'll be official!" Satisfied with his appearance, Naruto turned away from the mirror and walked back into the kitchen, grabbing his goggles from their place on his shelf as he went.

By now, the water on the stove had come to a rolling boil, so Naruto tore the top off of a cup of ramen. Careful to avoid splashing it on his fingers, he proceeded to pour the water into the cup. After slipping the goggles onto his head, he knelt and fastened on his sandals, before attaching his shuriken and kunai holsters. He grabbed a set of chopsticks and sat down at the table with his noodles. The ramen, rest its soul didn't stand a chance and was gone in a matter of seconds.

Letting out a contented sigh, he stood up and tossed the empty container over his shoulder. He paused briefly at the door, going over in his head one last time what he needed to bring and, once satisfied that he had everything, walked out into the streets of Konoha, the door closing with a soft click behind him.

The village was only now beginning to wake up. The vendors on the sides of the streets were opening up their shops, and a few early rising citizens were already shopping. Naruto started down the street, ignoring the occasional glares that were thrown in his direction. After all, today was gonna be way to good to let them spoil it.

As he walked towards the academy, his mind drifting to thoughts of the previous day's exams. The extra days of training he had put in with Iruka over the past few months had really saved his ass. He knew he had stomped the kunai accuracy and taijutsu exams so he wasn't worried about them. The written portion of the exam, however, was a different story. Hours of cramming the night before made him think that he at least passed, if only by a small margin. All that was left were the substitution, transformation, and clone exams.

"Come on fate, don't let me down today!" He yelled, pumping a fist into the air.

OoOoOo

Naruto was one of the first people to arrive at the academy. Only four other genin hopefuls were already in the classroom, and he recognized the one sitting at the top of the middle row of seats.

"Hey, Bushy Brow, how's it going?" He shouted, raising a hand in greeting.

Lee glanced up at the sound of Naruto's voice, looking mildly surprised. "Why hello, Naruto-kun! You are awfully punctual this morning. Did the squirrels wake you up again?"

Laughing, Naruto ran up the steps towards his fellow genin. "Naw, I just didn't want to be late! After all, today is the day I take my first step towards becoming Hokage!" He slipped into the seat next to Lee and propped his feet up on the desk.

Lee shook his head, smiling. "Well, with that attitude, I do not see how fate could give you any other destiny." Leaning forward, Lee picked up a pencil and began to balance it on his pointer finger. Soon, the two friends fell into a comfortable silence as they waited for their fellow students to arrive. After several minutes, the classroom began to fill up with aspiring students. Naruto yawned and slouched down in his seat, adjusting his goggles and pulling at his vest.

The door at the bottom of the classroom opened and Iruka walked in, carrying a clipboard. "Okay everyone, settle down!" he called, causing the room of babbling kids to go silent.

"Good. Now, in a few minutes, Mizuki-sensei and myself will begin calling you into the back one at a time to take your exams." He paused for a moment. "Before we get started, though, I would like to say something." A smile appeared on his face, "It's a little bittersweet to see such a talented group of young men and women go into the ninja world. It will be a dangerous place, but I have faith in each and every one of your abilities." His eyes briefly locked with Naruto. "I know all of you will go on to do amazing things." Iruka paused for a moment, rubbing the corner of one eye, before continuing. "Good luck everyone. Now, will Hyuuga Neji please follow me."

A boy in the front row with long brown hair and milky-white eyes stood up. As he followed Iruka, several girls waved and called out to him as he walked by. Not even sparing the fangirls a glance, Neji made his way into the back.

A few minutes went by and he re-emerged with a headband tied firmly around his forehead. Iruka called the next name and a red-haired girl went into the back. The cycle continued for a while, before Iruka appeared in the door way, smiling slightly. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto jumped to his feet with a whoop of excitement, ran down the aisle, past Iruka and into the small office. In the middle of the otherwise barren room sat an empty wooden chair and a desk, behind which sat Mizuki. Catching up with Naruto, Iruka told Naruto to sit down before joining Mizuki behind the desk.

Leaning back in his chair a little, Iruka began, "Well, first we will tell you the results of Yesterday's exams." He flipped through the clipboard for a moment, before beginning, "You scored a ninety-two on your kunai accuracy test, and a ninety-four on the taijutsu exam. Very good." He locked eyes with Naruto and his gaze became stern. "I am, however, very disappointed in your score on the written exam. A fifty-nine percent, Naruto? Come on, do you hear me when I talk or do you just day-dream?"

Naruto laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "What can I say..? Book smarts aren't my strong point."

Mizuki snorted, earning a disapproving glance from Iruka. "Lucky for you," Iruka continued, "The scores from your other exams bring up your total considerably, however you cannot fail any of the exams today if you wish to become a genin."

"Alright," Naruto began, a cocky grin on his face. "Let's get these out of the way, I can take anything this exam can dish out."

Smiling, Iruka said, "That's what I like to hear. Now, first up is the transformation technique. I want you to make as accurate a copy of me as you can."

Naruto nodded, taking a step back. He formed the necessary hand signs and a thin coat of blue chakra formed on his skin. "Transformation!" he yelled, his body becoming enveloped in a thick cloud of white smoke, briefly obscuring him from the instructors' view. When the smoke cleared, a perfect copy of Iruka stood in front of them, grinning cheekily.

The real Iruka stood up and walked around the desk. He closely examined his doppelganger, occasionally making a mark on the clipboard. After a moment, he nodded, "Good, that gives you a ninety-seven for transformation. Next, you are to utilize your substitution technique to avoid a thrown kunai. Mizuki-sensei, if you will."

As his gaze shifted over to the other teacher, Naruto was met with a kunai whizzing towards his head. Cursing, Naruto flashed through hand signs, the last one forming just as the tip of the throwing knife touched the edged of his vest. Another cloud of smoke erupted in the room, followed by a loud clunk. The smoke cleared, revealing log that lay on the ground, kunai jutting from its side. Naruto stumbled out the nearby broom closet, grumbling under his breath.

"Very good, Naruto!" Iruka exclaimed, clapping Naruto on the back. "That gives you a perfect score on the substitution technique. Now, for your final exam, the clone jutsu."

As Iruka stepped away, Naruto place his hands together in the ram seal, his entire being focused on passing this part of the exam. A maelstrom of blue chakra whipped around him, ruffling his clothing and hair. With a cry, Naruto released the pent up chakra into a jutsu."

Reluctantly, he cracked one eye open. A groan of despair escaped his lips at the sight. Before him stood three perfect copies of himself, but next to them, crumpled into a heap, was a badly deformed version of himself.

Iruka, however, was laughing. Naruto glared at him, "What's so funny, Iruka-sensei? I failed, didn't I?"

Still chuckling, Iruka answered, "No, Naruto, the minimum number of clones required to pass is three. You did it, congratulations, graduate!"

A grin slowly split Naruto's face. "Alright!" He cried, before jumping over the desk and capturing Iruka in a bone-crushing embrace. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Iruka carefully pried his way out of Naruto's grip and stood up. "You did very well, Naruto. However, I still have five students to test, so..." He picked up a headband from the desk and handed it to Naruto, "How about we grab some ramen from Ichiraku's tonight? My treat."

"Now that's an offer I can't refuse!" Naruto yelled, hugging Iruka one more time.

Iruka shook his head in amusement as the newly appointed genin ran from the room, tying his new headband around his head as he went.

**OoOoOoOoOo **

**Alright guys and gals, that's the re-write of chapter one. I'm probably not going to do this to anymore chapters for a while, so my next update will be chapter five. Don't worry, it's on the way!**


	2. Team Assignment

**A.N. Hello again everyone! I'm glad to see people are reading my story and adding it to their favorites/alert lists. Ha, someone in Greece read my story, that simply amazes me for some reason.**

**By the way, I apologize if anyone noticed my story was posted twice. I've only recently switched to Open Office, and the first half of chapter one was written on Word Pad(I know, murder right?) So the first post had a lot of random line skips in the middle of paragraphs and I had to fix it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

OoOoOoOoOo

Naruto stepped out into the shining light of the early afternoon sun, a bright smile plastered on his face. Waiting by the door was Lee, his new forehead protector wrapped around his head, and wearing an equally bright smile.

"Congratulations Naruto-kun, I am glad to see that you have also passed your exams!" he exclaimed, giving Naruto a thumbs up.

With a laugh, Naruto looked over at the families that were gathering to congratulate their children. "You too, Bushy Brow."

"By the way, Naruto-kun, I have been wondering. Are you wearing a different outfit?" Lee asked, one large eyebrow raised.

Naruto chuckled, "Yeah, I got it as a gift from someone a few weeks ago."

"Who gave it to you?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, Naruto said, "I don't know. I found them outside the apartment door a few weeks ago. They had a card that said, 'Good Luck'."

Lee scratched his head, "That definitely is odd..."

"Yeah, I was a little creeped out at first. But it was a good gesture, so I wish I could at least thank them." Naruto glanced over at the other Gennin, "By the way Bushy Brow, are you going to the training field this evening?"

After a short moment of deliberation, Lee shook his head. "No, I have decided to take the day off. I must be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to meet my new sensei in the morning."

Naruto tilted his head a little, smirking, and began to say something, but decided against it at the last minute and just shook his head. "Okay Bushy Brow, whatever you say. I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Hey, with any luck we might be on the same team."

Lee smiled, "Maybe so, Naruto-kun." He lifted his hand in farewell then turned and walked away once Naruto had returned the gesture.

Naruto rolled his shoulders as Lee took his leave, a thoughtful look on his face. Turning, he walked over to the shade of his favorite tree and sat down on the creaky old swing. His gaze once again drifted over to the group of celebrating graduates. He smiled sadly and shook his head.

_'Let it go, Naruto...'_

Not being able to bear looking at them any longer, the young Uzumaki looked over at the school house he had been going to for so long. It was hard to believe that tomorrow was the last day he would ever enter that building as a student. His thoughts drifted and he hardly even noticed how much time had passed until the sun begun to set, casting its deep orange light across the village...

Orange. The color he loved most in the world. It had been the color of the first shirt ever given to him as a gift. Ever since then he and that color had been inseparable. Of course, the Hokage had given him clothing from when he was baby, but it wasn't the same. The shirt had been left outside his house on his seventh birthday, wrapped in lavender paper and an orange bow. It had even had a note wishing him happy birthday!

Standing up, he realized that everyone had left. Suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened, "Oh no! I was supposed to meet Iruka-sensei! Damn it, I'm gonna be late!"

OoOoOo

As Naruto sprinted around a corner, he ran head-first into someone and fell flat on his back. "Ugh..." he groaned, holding one hand to a bump on his head and looking up at who he had hit. "Sorry...I wasn't-" His sentence was cut off as he realized he had run into a strange looking man in a green jumpsuit...walking on his hands.

"Do not worry about it, my boy. Such a weak impact could never knock one such as myself down. Now, if you had hit Kakashi, you might have knocked him head over heels."

Naruto stared at the man in front of him. Slowly, his eyes widened in horror. "O-Oh no! Lee fell into a time machine, got a haircut, and now he's an old man! I've gotta get help!" Naruto turned to run, but found his arm caught in the grasp of the man. '_Whoa...he's fast!'_

The Lee look-alike was now standing on his own two feet, chuckling. "My young friend, I am not Rock Lee. But do not worry, several people have confused me for the newly appointed Gennin's relative. However, let me enlighten you as to who I am. The greatest taijutsu specialist in Konohagakure, I am the great, Mait... Huh, where did he go?" He asked glancing at the spot where the orange-vested Gennin had stood only moments ago.

Walking faster, Naruto glanced over his shoulder as he turned a corner up the street. "Phew, I got away while he was distracted. What a weirdo..."

OoOoOo

Naruto arrived at Ichiraku's a few minutes after his strange encounter and stood outside the stand panting. One of the flaps was pushed aside and Iruka stepped into the street with him, a smirk on his face. "How's my favorite Gennin doing?" he asked.

Naruto looked at the man he'd seen as an older brother for the past few years and smiled. "I'm doing great, Iruka-sensei."

"That's great to hear..." he trailed off for a moment, then continued, "Naruto, do you mind if I see your headband for a moment?"

A confused look appeared on Naruto's face. "Oh, yeah, sure," he said, untying the forehead protector and handing it to Iruka.

"Okay, now, close your eyes for a minute."

Naruto complied, albeit a little grudgingly. "Man, Iruka-sensei, you're acting really weird." Iruka didn't answer, but Naruto felt him tying something around his forehead.

"You can open your eyes now," Iruka said.

Naruto's eyes cracked open, and he saw that Iruka was no longer wearing his headband. Raising one eyebrow, Naruto lifted one hand to examine what was on his head. It was a headband, but not his own. He could feel several rough patches and a few scratches. Eyes wide, Naruto exclaimed, "But this is your forehead protector, why are you giving it to me?"

Iruka shrugged his shoulders, smiling sheepishly. "You don't mind, do you? I just figured it could be a memento for your graduation. You know, teacher and student swapping headbands."

With a loud laugh, Naruto grabbed his former sensei in another bone-crushing hug. "That's so cool, Iruka-sensei!"

After a moment, the two walked into Ichiraku's. "How's it going, Teuchi-san?" Iruka asked the man behind the counter as he and Naruto sat down.

The old man turned around and exclaimed, "Iruka! You haven't been in to see me for several days, I was worried about you!" Teuchi's gaze drifted to the short blonde standing next to Iruka, "Well if it isn't Naruto! And I see he's wearing a Konoha headband now, too. So, our little prankster passed the exams, did he?"

"I told you I would, old man!" Naruto yelled, pointing his finger at Teuchi.

Teuchi chuckled, "I suppose you did at that. So, how does free ramen sound to you? All you can eat."

Naruto's eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Alright! Today is officially the best day ever!"

OoOoOo

By the time Naruto finally got back to his apartment that night, he thought his stomach was gonna burst. "God, I didn't need that eleventh bowl of ramen..." he thought, one hand gingerly holding his abused stomach. Walking over to his bed, Naruto grabbed a manga he had borrowed from Lee off of his nightstand and fell onto his bed with a groan. After reading a few pages, he gave up fighting his tiredness and sat the book back on the table. With a click, the desk lamp went dark and he rolled over on his side and shut his eyes.

Suddenly, three sharp knocks emanated from his door. Naruto sat up looked at the door, confused. "Who in the world would be coming to see me? Especially at this time of night." The bed creaked as Naruto lowered his bare feet to the floor and got up.

Being as quiet as he possibly could, Naruto crept over to the door. Carefully, he opened the door and looked out into the hallway.

It was empty.

Shaking his head, Naruto turned to go back into his apartment, but something on the ground in front of his door caught his eye. A small box, wrapped in lavender paper and an orange bow. Eyebrows raised in surprise, Naruto leaned down and picked up the box.

Taped to the side was a sealed envelope with 'Congratulations' written in large red letters across the front. "Wow..." Naruto murmured, examining the package, "This looks almost exactly like..." He trailed off and turned to walk back into the house. As the door closed behind him, Naruto ripped the envelope off and set the box on his kitchen table. He opened the envelope and unfolded the crisp paper. It read:

_Naruto-kun,_

_I'm so happy that you passed your exam! I hope that all of your dreams come true._

That was all. No signature. Just a short message. Naruto smiled, _'Someone wrote me a letter!'_

Setting the letter down, Naruto once again picked up the little box. Carefully removing the paper so as not to ruin it, Naruto lifted the lid off and looked inside. What he saw made him laugh.

It was an orange ramen bowl with small foxes and rabbits painted on the side. On top of the bowl were a pair of ornate chopsticks. "Wow," Naruto said again, studying the bowl. It was the nicest gift anyone had ever given him. He briefly thought about making ramen there and then just to use the bowl, but then decided against it. "No," he began, placing the bowl and chopsticks on his dresser, "I need to get to sleep, I need to be ready for tomorrow."

OoOoOo

Sunlight glistened through the glass of the Jonin meeting room, casting shadows across the room. Sitting on a couch in the corner, Kakashi read an orange book, ignoring the conversations of the other Jonin. To be honest, he didn't even want to be here, but the Hokage always insisted he at least let a team try to prove their worth to him. They never did.

"Hello Kakashi," Gai announced, walking up to the silver haired man. "Are you ready to once again lose to the awesome might that the springtime of youth gives to me?"

A moment passed, and the silver haired Jonin showed no sign of hearing Gai. Then, as if snapping out of a trance, Kakashi looked up. "Oh, I'm sorry Gai, did you say something?"

Frustration flashed across Gai's face and he clenched his fist. "Darn you for being so hip, Kakashi! I will not be defeated by one such as you!"

A sweat drop appeared on the back of Kakashi's head and he held his hands up. "I'm sorry Gai, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

Gai, looking like he was almost at the point of jumping up and down, cried, "Of course you know what I am talking about! The assignment of Gennin teams by Hokage-sama, of course! We were assigned them yesterday, and I am sure that my team shall surpass yours! So tell me Kakashi, which Gennin have the Hokage chosen for you to instruct?"

Kakashi put a thoughtful finger on his chin and looked up at the ceiling. "You know...I don't really remember."

"What?" Gai cried, "How is it that today is the day you get your new students, and yet you do not even know their names? How will you know which ones you are supposed to collect today?"

Glancing at the other man, Kakashi shrugged, "I'm just going to be the last one to arrive, that way the only kids there will be the ones I'm supposed to teach. Simple, huh?" Ignoring Gai's cry of indignation, Kakashi asked, "What about you? Which students get to enjoy your tutelage?"

Gai, almost instantly forgetting his anger, grinned and gave Kakashi a thumbs up. "I have the most youthful team someone could ask for! This is why I know I shall be the victor of our wager!"

"Yeah, and who are they?"

"You will have to wait and find out, my good rival. I am sure the suspense is killing you!"

Kakashi raised one eyebrow, lowering the book into his lap. "Yeah, sure it is. But if I want to save my own life I could just read the roster that's on the wall over there."

"Curse you Kakashi, and your hip ways! One day I will prove to you the importance of being the most youthful person that you can be!"

OoOoOo

"Yosh! Naruto-kun, you and I are on the same team! Is this not wonderful news?" Lee shouted, jumping up and down as he and his two teammates walked out of the classroom and into the academy courtyard.

Naruto smiled, looking over at Lee. "Yeah Bushy Brow, it's great. But you might want to tone down the enthusiasm a little bit, I think you're scaring Tenten."

Lee turned to the brown haired girl next to him. "My apologies, Tenten-chan! I have let my enthusiasm get the better of me."

Tenten smiled, holding up a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it, Lee."

Lee looked up at the sky, one hand shading his eyes from the sun. "Ah, what a beautiful day it is. A perfect day for training. What do you think Naruto-kun, after we meet with our sensei, do you want to go to one of the open fields and train?"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "Sounds fun. What about you, Tenten? Want to join us? It's always more productive if you have more than two people there."

Tenten pursed her lips in thought before finally nodding, "Sure, I need something to do this evening anyway."

Lee shouted and jumped for joy, throwing his hands above his head. "Yosh! We have a new training partner!"

Shaking his head, Naruto asked, "So, where do you guys want to eat? We have and hour and a half to kill before our sensei arrives. Any ideas?"

"I heard that a new tea shop opened down the street. How about that?" Tenten suggested.

Naruto thought for a second and then shrugged his shoulders, "Sure, why not? What do you think Bushy Brow?"

"It sounds like a wonderful idea to me, Naruto-kun!"

The trio walked down the dirt road for a few minutes before arriving at a small building with 'Nina's Tea Shop' emblazoned across the front.

The door jingled as the three walked in,. The place was rather crowded and there appeared to be only one person working. That person, an obviously tired young woman with her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, approached them. "Hello, welcome to Nina's Tea Shop, my name's Nina. Have a seat over there and I will be there momentarily to take your order," she said, indicating an empty table near the closest window.

"Thank you," said Tenten, smiling at the woman. "Take your time, we're in no rush."

Nina smiled thankfully, "I appreciate it. I don't normally have so much business but there's festival coming to the village, so it's been like this for almost two days! I'll be with you as soon as I can." She nodded her head at them and went back to dashing between tables.

"Wow, Tenten, that was really nice of you," Naruto said, looking at her.

Tenten smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "Well...It looked like she was being worked to death, and I'm not _that_ hungry..." her eyes widened, "Oh gosh! You two aren't hungry, are you? I'm so sorry, I didn't think about it!"

Lee and Naruto looked at each other for a moment and then burst into laughter. "Do not worry about it, Tenten-chan, I am not hungry."

"Yeah, I'm not either, let's just go sit down."

They sat down at the table, Tenten across from Lee and Naruto. "So..." she began, scouring her mind for a subject to talk about. "Hm...how about...no. That's dumb...what about...?" She shook her head, "What type of techniques are you best at, Lee?"

"Well," Lee began, "My best technique style is Taijutsu, what's yours?"

"Kenjutsu," Tenten replied, resting her chin in her hands. "I've always been fascinated by weapon based fighting styles, so naturally that's what I decided to learn. What about you, Naruto?"

A thoughtful look appeared on Naruto's face. "Hm...You know, I'm not sure. I'm definitely no good in Genjutsu, I can barely pull off the basics. My Taijutsu is decent, I guess, but I'm still no match for Bushy Brow, and besides kunai and shuriken accuracy practice, I've never delved too far into Kenjutsu...and I only know a few Ninjutsu techniques. So, I guess I don't know." He shrugged and picked up a menu, "I'm sure I'll find out once we start training with our new sensei."

Tenten began to say something, but was cut off as Nina appeared next to their table. "Okay, I finally have a minute to hear myself think. What would you three like?" she asked, pulling out a small notebook from her apron pocket.

Naruto set his menu down, "I'll have the extra large miso ramen and a cup of green tea."

Lee's eyes widened, "Really Naruto-kun! Is there anything that you eat besides ramen?" he cried, turning towards his friend.

Shrugging sheepishly, Naruto replied, "Heh...sorry. I just can't pass up a good bowl of ramen."

"I'll have the calamari and a glass of water, please," Tenten said, after briefly glancing down at the menu.

Lee debated on what to choose for a moment and then decided on the curry and orange juice. "To keep up my vitamin C," he explained, grinning.

Nina scribbled down their orders and nodded. "Okay, I'll be right back with your orders. Thank you for being so patient."

As the young waitress disappeared into the kitchen, Tenten turned to orange-vested boy in front of her. "What are your plans for the future, Naruto?" she questioned, tilting her head to one side in curiosity.

Lee snickered, "I am surprised that you have not heard him yet, Tenten-chan, he shouts his dreams around the village almost every single day."

Naruto crossed his arms across his chest and shrugged, "So, why shouldn't I? It's true so it's not like I'm lying."

"What's true?"

Glancing at Tenten, Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "I'm going to become the Hokage and show everyone that I'm not useless. Then they'll have to stop ignoring me and realize that I'm somebody. Somebody important!"

Despite herself, Tenten could not help but smile at the energetic boy sitting across from her. For some reason, she believed that he was going to do just that. "I hear you Naruto, sounds like a plan!" she replied, her smile becoming a grin. "What about you, Lee?"

"To become the greatest taijutsu specialist this village has ever seen!" Lee cried, raising his arms over his head, his thick ponytail bouncing around at the sudden movement. "And yourself, Tenten-chan?"

"Wow, you two have such big dreams!" said Tenten, clearly impressed. "I've gotta admit, it makes mine seem really small. I just want to join the ranks of the ANBU black ops and be a great kunoichi like my idol, Tsunade."

The three continued exchanging idle information about themselves for a few minutes. The food arrived and they ate while talking, getting to know their new teammates.

"Really?" Tenten asked, amazed. "That was you?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered, "You should have seen the look on those Hyuuga's faces when they came out of their rooms that morning and saw that I had vandalized the side of their building with orange paint." He began laughing as he remembered, clutching his sides.

Lee gave the two a disapproving look. "I do not think that it was a proper use of your abilities!"

"Geez, I'm sorry, _mom._"

"Hey!" Lee cried indignantly, causing both Naruto and Tenten to laugh.

OoOoOo

The academy classroom was buzzing with noise from the countless conversations being held by its Gennin inhabitants. Naruto and his two teammates sat together near the top left of the classroom, waiting for their sensei to arrive and collect them.

At the bottom of the classroom, a door opened and a man wearing green spandex and a bowl cut hair style entered the room. "Hello, youthful young children!" he yelled, causing everyone in the room to stop talking and look at him. "I am looking for team fourt-"

"Hey!" Naruto cried, cutting off the Jonin in mid-sentence, "That's the guy from the time machine!" The entire room's attention once again shifted, now focused on the blonde. Tenten blushed a deep red and slid down in her seat.

Gai cleared his throat. "As I was saying, my youthful friend, I am looking for team fourteen. Would you please come with me?"

Naruto looked at Tenten, who was still slouched down in her seat trying to disappear, and asked, "What team number are we? I forgot."

Tenten sighed, "Team fourteen, unfortunately," she answered.

The room burst into laughter as the three new Gennin walked down to the eccentric man and followed him out the door. "Good luck!" one of them shouted from the back, his voice filled with mirth.

As the door shut behind them, Gai said, "Hello, my students! Is today not a perfect day to meet the team you shall be spending the next few years with?"

"Yes, sensei! I agree!" Lee shouted, clenching one fist in front of his chest.

Naruto fell into step beside Tenten, "Look at the two of them..." he murmured, "The resemblance is so creepy! I still say that this guy is Lee from the future or something."

Tenten looked at him, one eyebrow cocked in disbelief. "Really, Naruto? I'll admit they look a lot alike, but there's no such thing as a time machine."

"Maybe some jutsu went horribly wrong and transported him to the past!" Naruto speculated, waving his arms up and down.

With a shake of her head, Tenten replied, "Naruto, you really have quite the imagination on you, I'll give you that."

By the time they had arrived at Gai's destination, a shaded area underneath a small shelter, the green garbed man had already roped Lee into a conversation about youthfulness and now the two were talking to each other animatedly.

"They _must_ be related," Tenten said exasperatedly as the two carried on their loud conversation with one another.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "Or, you know, a time machine could have been involved."

Tenten rolled her eyes.

Sitting down on one of the benches, Gai invited his new students to sit across from him. Once they had, he began, "Well, shall we begin? I am sure you three have heard talk about me around the village. I am Konoha's greatest taijutsu specialist, the Magnificent Green Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai!"

The three young ninja stared at him.

Gai's eyebrow twitched. "Or! Perhaps, you may know me as the only Jonin to truly understand the power of youth!"

Tenten and Naruto continued staring, but Lee jumped to his feet, "Yes, Gai-sensei, I have heard just that!"

"Really, my young pupil. And what reliable source did you gather this excellent information from?"

Giving the older man a thumbs up, Lee shouted, "You, sensei! Just a few minutes ago!"

Naruto snickered and Tenten's breath hitched as she tried to stop herself from doing the same.

Gai coughed. "Well, moving on to other things, what are your names and where do you see yourselves in ten years? You start," he said, pointing at Lee.

"Yosh! My name Rock Lee and in ten years I will be a great Taijutsu expert!"

"I admire your enthusiasm my young student. How about you?"

Seeing that he was pointing at her, Tenten began, "My name Izawa Tenten. By then I want to be in the ranks of ANBU."

Not needing to be told, Naruto spoke up. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto," he started, adjusting his newly acquired headband, "In five years, everyone's gonna know my name, cause I'm gonna be a famous ninja! I'll be the Hokage!"

Gai smirked, "My, my, the power of youth is strong in all of you. I know that you will all accomplish your dreams. Now," his tone became serious, "Before we go any further, I must inform you that in order for you to accomplish these goals, you must first prove yourselves by passing a test."

"Test?" Naruto asked, looking at Gai, clearly confused. "What are you talking about? We passed the graduation exams already!"

"Those were only to make sure you were ready for this test. Every Jonin must give their team a test, what kind of test they give is up to the instructor." Gai's tone gave no room for joking. "This test has a sixty-six percent rate of failure, out of the thirty-six that graduated the academy, only twelve will go on to be shinobi. The other twenty-four will go back to receive more training."

The three students stared at their new instructor, shocked.

"But do not worry!" Gai cried, standing up. His seriousness seemed to have completely vanished and he now wore a huge smile. "I have utmost confidence that all three of you will pass this test! Now, all of you must be tired, so go home and get some rest. After all, you have to be at your best to face what's coming tomorrow! Dismissed!"

With that said, Gai disappeared in a cloud of thick white smoke, leaving Lee, Tenten, and Naruto alone.

"Can you believe that!" Naruto yelled, jumping to his feet and stalking back and forth in front of his two teammates. "This is so not fair! We've already passed the damn exams, why do we have to take another one?"

Tenten laughed, "Don't worry Naruto, I think we should be able to pass. After all, with the future Hokage on our side, how could we possibly fail?"

The ominous cloud of gloom that had been surrounding them since they had learned of the test seemed to evaporate. "That's right! I don't know about you two, but no stupid test is going to get in the way of _my_ dreams!"

"It will not stand in my way either, Naruto-kun!" Lee shouted.

The two looked at Tenten and she nodded, "I won't let it stand in my way either...but, I'm guessing that since we have this exam tomorrow, we won't be able to go training this afternoon, will we?"

Lee and Naruto looked at each other then back to Tenten. "Tenten," Naruto began, "You've got a lot to learn."

Lee pulled Tenten to her feet and together they led her to the training field.

OoOoOoOoOo

**Well, there's chapter two. It came out a bit quicker then I thought it would because I got some last minute inspiration last night. I probably would have posted it last night but my internet kicked me off and wouldn't sign in until today. What can I say, dial-up sucks.**


	3. Team Eleven

**A.N. I apologize if this chapter is later than usual, as I type this, I have no internet access, so I don't have the slightest idea when this chapter will reach the archives of fanfiction. Sorry guys!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

OoOoOoOoOo

The calls of birds echoed around the training grounds, creating a peaceful symphony of music for its only inhabitant. Not that he could hear it. The only person in the entire area was a blonde-haired boy sprawled out underneath a large tree, his chest slowly rising up and down in sleep. His hand came up and brushed a fly off of his face without any conscious thought, and he rolled over on his side, continuing to sleep.

The sound of voices broke the relative peacefulness that had fallen over the grounds. They were soft at first, but slowly became louder as their speakers grew nearer. "But Tenten-chan!" one of them called as the two of them came into view of where the boy still slept, "You must admit that it looks cool!"

"Really?" the brown haired girl, Tenten, said, obviously trying not to giggle. "Lee, I thought you had a weird fashion sense before but this has to take the cake. Congratulations."

"What?" Lee cried indignantly, his eyes wide, "How could you say such a thing? Especially when I got the idea from our sensei! It must be cool!"

The boy underneath the tree began to stir from his slumber.

Tenten, no longer able to control herself, burst into laughter. "I swear, Lee! The hair I can understand, a big ponytail can get in the way. But _spandex_? How in the world can you be serious?"

Sitting up carefully, the blonde looked over at the two. His eyes widened and one hand came up to cover his mouth. _'No way...'_

Lee shook his head. "I knew that you would not understand. You must immerse yourself in the springtime of youth if you want to truly understand what it means to have the power of youth at your side. Why, if-"

"Geez Bushy Brow, what happened to you? Get in a fight with bowl and a pair of scissors?"

Both genin turned to the blonde. "Naruto-kun!" Lee yelled. "How good it is to see you! I see you have embraced the springtime of youth and came here early so that you could train!"

Naruto raised one hand, "Actually Lee, I-"

Lee waved his arms erratically, cutting Naruto off. "No, no. I must catch up to you! It would be un-youthful of me to allow my teammate to get ahead of me. So I must do two hundred laps around this field before sensei arrives! If I cannot, then I will do one-thousand squats!" Without giving either of his teammates time to answer his rant, Lee took off, leaving a small cloud of dust in his wake.

Raising one eyebrow, Tenten sat down next to Naruto on the grass and drew her knees up to her chest. "Did you really come here early so you could train?" she asked, watching Lee run around the field.

Naruto glanced over at her. "Naw," he began, smiling, "The old lady on the floor above me was playing some old 40's record last night. It woke me up at three in the morning, so I came down here to sleep." He grinned, rubbing the back of his head, "Nothing quite like a good night's sleep under the stars to get you ready for an exam."

With a laugh, Tenten responded, "Yeah, sure."

The two settled down to watch their newly green-garbed teammate running laps around the field as they waited for their sensei. After a few more minutes, Lee finished his self-induced training and joined his two teammates.

"Where do you guys think Gai-sensei is?" Naruto asked, looking around. "I mean, it's almost ten. That guy doesn't seem like the kind of person to be late."

Tenten shrugged, leaning against the tree and crossing her arms behind her head. "I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait."

With a nod, Naruto asked, "Hey, do either of you two know how to play poker?"

OoOoOo

Gai shot up in bed, eyes wide. Grabbing his alarm clock from the desk at his side, he studied the clock face. The second hand was no longer moving.

"No!" he cried, jumping out of bed and scrambling into his jumpsuit. "How un-youthful it is of me to wake up late!" Gai ran over to the desk where he had written down his plans and grading scale for the test he had stayed up late into the night devising.

He sprinted down the hall, and tripped over a training weight that was lying on the ground. He groaned, staring up at the ceiling before jumping back to his feet and shaking his head to clear the stars from his vision. Then, once he had checked to make sure that his plans were unharmed by his tumble, snatched a kunai pouch from the counter. _'This test is sure to ignite the springtime of youth in my new pupils!'_ he thought to himself excitedly.

Gai pushed the door open and ran out onto the street, intent on getting to his students as quickly as possible. He had taken three steps when he ran head-first into Teuchi, who was carrying a box of delivery-style ramen.

Teuchi stumbled backwards and cried out, the box flying out of his arms. It shattered against Gai, covering him from head to toe in ramen broth and noodles. Teuchi stared at him, eyes wide. "Oh dear, my good man, I'm so sorry!"

With a laugh, Gai gave the ramen shop owner a thumbs-up and shook his head. "Never fear! It was my fault! Just as long as my pla-" his eyes shifted to the papers in his hands and he blanched. They were dripping wet and the ink had run all over the place.

It was ruined!

_'Oh no! Now I will have to copy that hip Kakashi! How un-youthful of me!'_

OoOoOo

All three of the freshly appointed genin sat underneath the tree together, exchanging small talk. "And then I picked up the log and threw it at a training post! It shattered! Can you believe it?" Lee cried.

Naruto held up a disapproving finger. "Now Lee," he began, mocking Lee's voice, "I do not believe that it was a proper use of your abilities."

Tenten burst into laughter and Lee stared at his blonde-haired teammate. "I do not sound like that!" Lee yelled, waving his arms in indignation.

Her laughter dying down, Tenten began to say, "Seriously, where is that guy? I really-"

"Hello, my pupils!" Gai cried, cutting her off, "Is this not a simply youthful morning?" The smoke that still remained around him from his teleportation technique was quickly dissipated by the wind. A grin appeared on his face as he noticed Lee's new attire. "My! How wonderful it is to see that my student is embracing the power of youth so quickly!"

"Yosh, Gai-sensei!" Lee cried in response.

Tenten leaned over to Naruto, "They really are like twins aren't they?"

"Yeah," Naruto responded, "These next few years are going to take _forever_."

"I know," Tenten agreed, climbing to her feet. She held out a hand and helped Naruto up as well. "At least there aren't three of them." 

Naruto shuddered.

"Okay!" Gai announced, holding up his hand to get their attention. "Please gather around and I shall explain the rules of this test." He waited for them to form a group in front of him, and then held up an alarm clock. "I have set this to go off at noon." Next, he held up two silver bells, "Your challenge is to take one of these from me before it goes off."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, advancing on the green-garbed man. "That isn't fair, there are only two! What happens to the person that doesn't get a bell?"

"Patience, my energetic pupil, I was getting to that." Gai indicated the three training posts to his right, "Whomever does not manage to get a bell from me, will be tied to this stump and forced to watch as I eat your lunch." He paused and gauged their reactions, then shook the bells. "All you need is one bell...apiece. Since there isn't enough to go around, one of you is definitely heading for that stump. Whoever that is will be the first one to fail and will be sent back to the academy."

Lee gulped and steeled himself, and Tenten looked over at Naruto to see how he would react. The blonde was noticeably shaking and his jaw was clenched shut.

Gai attached the bells to his belt. "If you like, you may use shuriken. Attack as if you mean to kill, or you'll never stand a chance against my awesome flames of youth!" The eccentric Jonin raised one hand, "Ready? Go!" as the words left his lips, Gai brought the hand down sharply.

Two of the genin vanished, seeking shelter in the foliage. One, however, didn't move an inch. Said orange-vested shinobi pointed at his sensei and exclaimed loudly, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna take you down single-handed. Because I'm gonna become the Hokage one day!"

Gai raised one thick eyebrow. _'This kid's definitely got guts...'_ "Okay Naruto! Show me your flames of youth!" he cried.

Naruto pulled a single kunai from its holster and dashed forward, bringing it down in a sharp arc. With practiced ease, the Jonin knocked the blade to the side. Naruto stumbled forward and whipped his fist around in an attempt to strike Gai. The green-garbed man caught the attack and sent Naruto flying backwards with a flick of his wrist.

"Now Naruto, you know that you must do better than that!" laughed Gai, his fists held loftily in front of his face.

The blonde-haired boy cursed and pulled a handful of shuriken from a pouch on his belt. He hurled his arm forward, sending the shuriken spinning quickly towards Gai's face. The Jonin merely bent his head to the side, allowing the stars to fly easily by his head. His eyes never left Naruto, making sure to keep the boy in his line of sight. That is, until a cloud of smoke erupted from the ground at his feet. He stumbled back coughing.

Once the smoke had cleared, he looked around the clearing and realized that Naruto was gone. Gai smirked, "Not bad."

OoOoOo

"What in the world were you thinking?" Tenten whispered harshly, dragging Naruto through the underbrush. "He's a Jonin! There was no way you could have defeated him head-to-head!"

Naruto grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Heh...sorry, Tenten-chan. My bad."

Tenten shook her head, but did not pursue the subject. After a few minutes, Lee came into view. The green-garbed genin was crouching behind a thicket of trees, his eyes trained on Gai. Without turning his head, he whispered, "So Naruto-kun, you have decided to join us I see...What ever possessed you to fight him one-on-one?"

"He's hopeless!" Tenten said, cutting off Naruto's response. "Only he would think to take on a Jonin by himself."

"Well..." Lee spoke up, hoping to avoid conflict, "I think that it would be best if we could come up with a plan. None of us have a chance individually, but together, we may be able to get the bells."

Naruto grumbled, but admitted grudgingly. "Fine... I guess it sounds reasonable to me. How should we go about it?"

"I think that it would be best if two of us acted as decoys, drawing his attention, while another circles around and takes the bells while he's distracted," Tenten suggested.

"Sounds good to me, but which of us does what?" asked Naruto.

A thoughtful look appeared on Tenten's face. "Hm...me and Lee both have very frontal and hands on attack styles. We would also be a pretty good tag-team due to the fact that he is close-quarters and I'm long distance...but how are we going to..." She trailed off, then a spark of realization flashed into her eyes. "Wait a second! Naruto, didn't you say that you played a prank on the Hyuuga family a few months ago?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered with a nod, "What does that have to do with anything though?"

Tenten grinned, "You said that not a single person detected you!" she exclaimed. "The Hyuuga clan's Byakugan is the most powerful dojutsu in Konoha! If you weren't detected by them, you must have an unbelievable skill with stealth!"

Lee's eyes lit up and he laughed. "That is right, Naruto-kun! How could we have forgotten something so critical! When this test is over I shall do two-thousand squats! If I can't do that, then I will do three-thousand push-"

"Yosh!" Naruto cried, cutting off Lee's tirade. "Now we have a plan, how should we go about it?"

"I have some surprises for Gai-sensei, but I'll need a few minutes to set them up," Tenten told them, pulling a few summoning scrolls from a pouch on her belt.

OoOoOo

Gai stood in the middle of the field, eyes scanning the surrounding tree-line. None of his potential students had tried to attack him since Naruto's failed attempt. _'I wonder what they're planning...'_ he thought, crossing his arms over his chest. A rumble emanated from his stomach and he placed a hand over it. _'Oh...this test is supposed to make them hungry. But I'm the only one who didn't eat breakfast this morning.'_ Suddenly, Gai pointed one finger up to the sky and held a clenched fist in front of his face. "Darn you Kakashi! Your hip test is completely un-youthful!"

His attention was abruptly pulled from his monologue as a green shape darted from the trees and ran full speed at him. With ease, Gai knocked Lee's fist to the side and shoved the boy back several feet where he skidded to a stop. A faint whistling was the only thing that gave Gai warning to dodge to the side as several kunai and shuriken whizzed by his head.

Tenten emerged from the brush where the projectiles had been launched with a giant shuriken in her hand. She sprinted forward and let the star fly. Gai ducked and the missile passed harmlessly over his head. He immediately had to throw himself on his stomach as the twang of a ninja wire trap alerted him of a trap being set off behind him. Rolling to avoid another kunai thrown by Tenten, he moved right into the way of Lee's kick. He caught the boy's foot and twisted it, sending him sprawling onto his back..

Jumping to his feet, he dodged yet another volley of throwing-weapons, and, as he did so, Lee shifted his body and moved his leg into Gai's way. The green-clad man tripped over Lee's outstretched limb, managed to catch himself before he fell, but was not able to keep himself from stumbling. His eyes widened as a flash of orange revealed Naruto's close proximity. Gai's arm knocked Naruto's hand away just as the boy's fingertips brushed the silver bells. The blonde cursed and lunged forward again, this time closing his hand around a bell.

The alarm blared.

Naruto eyes opened wide in disbelief. "No freakin way!" he yelled, releasing the bell he had managed to get a grip on and jumping back from the Jonin. "Damn it!" he cried, jumping up and down in anger.

"No..." whispered Tenten, disappointment evident in her voice.

Lee pointed at Gai, "That is not possible!"

Gai was unaware of their disappointment. He was looking at the three genin, a grin slowly forming across his face. Suddenly, the green-garbed man burst into unrestrained laughter, holding his sides in mirth.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Naruto shouted, waving his arms indignantly.

Wiping a stray tear from his eye, Gai cried, "Congratulations, my new pupils!" As he said the sentence, he was once again sent into a fit of laughter.

"Hey! I said stop...huh? What did you say?" Naruto asked, a quizzical look replacing his angry expression.

Gai spread his arms wide. "The point of this test was not to defeat me, it was to prove to me that you could work as a team to at least try and achieve the task I had set for you. You three have passed with flying colors."

A grin slowly split Naruto's face. "Ha ha! Woohoo, just another step on my path towards becoming Hokage!"

Lee burst into exuberant laughter and embraced Tenten, shaking the girl back and forth. "We did it!" he cried.

Gai, his tone still lively with amusement, began "You are all to report to the Hokage Tower by seven o'clock tomorrow for our first mission as team eleven! Now get some rest!"

OoOoOo

Tenten shuffled into her house three hours later. Her training with Naruto and Lee had ran over a little. She smiled as she thought of them. She had wanted to go home as soon as the meeting was over, but Lee and Naruto adamantly refused, insisting that she train with them. '_Knuckleheads...'_ she thought, the corners of her lips still turned up in a smile.

"Tenten? Honey, is that you?" the voice of her dad called from the kitchen.

"Yeah dad, I'm back!" she answered, stepping through the door.

A man, his brown hair pulled back in a pony-tail, was standing in front of the stove, keeping an eye on several pots and pans that were spitting steam. He was tall, and looked remarkably like Tenten."You're back a bit late. Everything go okay?"

Tenten walked over to her dad and gave him a quick hug. "Yeah, we passed Gai-sensei's test. You wouldn't believe it, it had nothing to do with individual skill. You want to take a guess on what he was testing.

The man raised one eye-brow. "Nah, just tell me."

Rolling her eyes, Tenten said, "Geez dad, that's lazy even for you."

Her dad smiled sweetly, "I try hun. So?"

"He wanted to see if we could work as a team! Out of all the things he could have done, I was definitely not expecting that!" She said, waving her arms a little bit in effect. "I mean, I was expecting something like testing how far we could run, or how long we could stand on our fingertips, or running around Konoha on our eyelids or something!"

Her dad laughed, "That sounds a little far-fetched."

She pointed at him, "No dad,I'm serious, If you met this guy, you would know what I was talking about! He's crazy! Naruto told me he saw him running around Konoha on his _elbows_."

"Well dear, it sounds to me like that's a bit more believable than running around the village on your eyelids. I mean, he seems like a good enough guy, I'm sure he'd let you use your eyebrows a little if you were having trouble."

Tenten snickered and held one hand in front of her mouth to muffle the noise. "Well, enough about my day. How were things at your weapon shop today?"

Tenten's father was the owner of one of Konohagakure's most well-known weapons shop, Hishiro's Forge. He, Hishiro, Tenten, and his apprentice were the only ones in the village who knew how to fold the steel for his weapons in the way that made his weapons the best, and he wasn't about to tell anyone else. "Not too bad, but we were a bit busy today. All those new genin want new kunai and shuriken to go with the new title."

"Sounds like it was fun," Tenten said, smiling.

"Of course," he answered, "Now, go wash up. Dinner will be ready soon.

OoOoOo

The light had long since faded from the horizon when Lee returned to his apartment. Even after both Tenten and Naruto had left, Lee had stayed at the field and trained for several more hours. The lock clicked and he pushed the door open, setting his key on the kitchen counter as he went by. He untied the headband from his forehead and placed it on the couch, making a mental note to wear it as a belt so he could better emulate his sensei.

The green-clad youth went into his bathroom and took a shower. He put on a sleeveless shirt and shorts before walking over to the fridge. After taking out a carton of apple juice and package of lunch meat, he walked over to the counter. He made a sandwich and poured himself a glass of the juice before walking back over to the couch and sitting down.

Picking up the remote, Lee turned on the television and began flipping through the channels, occasionally taking a bite from the sandwich or a gulp from the glass of apple juice. After a few seconds, he settled on a show, something about a talking dog solving crimes with a group of teenagers, and promptly tuned them out, choosing instead to focus on his own thoughts.

When he had found out that he would be on the same team as Naruto, he had been ecstatic. Not to mention that his new sensei was the coolest man he'd ever met. He was relatively neutral towards Tenten at this point, but he already knew that she was a good person, and he liked her.

His eyes drifted to the ceiling as his thoughts wondered. He had done it! He had become a ninja despite the fact that his chakra coils were extremely underdeveloped. The boy who had been called hopeless had proved them all wrong and graduated in the top five of his class, and he was understandably rather happy about it.

"Yeah," he said to himself, "Today's been a good day."

OoOoOo

Despite the summer heat that was sure to show itself in the evening, the air in Konoha the morning of Team Eleven's first mission was unusually cold. Naruto stood underneath a tree outside of Hokage tower, a cloud of mist spewing from his mouth every few seconds as he exhaled. He was wearing his orange jacket from his jumpsuit instead of his vest, and he was leaning against the tree trunk, his hands in his pockets.

"Good morning, Naruto!" Tenten said cheerfully, approaching from his left.

Naruto glanced at her, his eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. "Oh, hey, Tenten. Sorry, you startled me a little," he said, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head.

With an amused smirk, Tenten held up one finger, and, in a voice obviously designed to mock Lee's, chastised, "Now Naruto, I believe that it is pertinent for you to be completely aware of your surroundings at all times. For goodness sake, think of what Iruka-sensei would say if he were here to see this."

The orange-garbed genin held one hand over his mouth, muffling the laughter that was fighting its way out of his lungs. After he had calmed down, he began, "Do you have any idea where Gai-sensei and Lee are?"

Tenten, still obviously amused by her earlier impression of their spastic teammate, answered, "Yeah, actually. I ran into him and Lee on my way here. They were back-flipping around the village. Turns out that Gai-sensei apparently lost a challenge to some guy name Kakashi, and so he had to 'rekindle his spirit of youth' by challenging himself with some stupidly hard task. Lee decided to join him, so our meeting will be an hour or two later."

"Hmm..." Naruto murmured to himself softly, "I guess that explains why he was running around on his hands when I first saw him. In fact, I believe he actually mentioned something about a dude name Kakashi." He stood up straight and shrugged. "Oh well. So, what are we gonna do while we wait for those two?"

"Well," Tenten began, "I figured we might work on our kunai accuracy." She grinned at him, "I saw when we were taking the test yesterday that you definitely have a ways to go on your accuracy."

Naruto's eyes widened and he waved his arms in disbelief. "Nuh-uh! I did good on the academy's weapons' exam."

Shaking her head, Tenten explained, "Yeah, I'm sure you did. Don't get me wrong, you aren't bad, you're just not good. Unless you scored one-hundred percent on your accuracy exam, you aren't good enough. What did you score?"

"Ninety-two," Naruto answered.

"Yeah," Tenten continued, nodding her head, "You need some improvement. Follow me."

Tenten led Naruto several blocks away to an empty training field with several posts sticking up from the ground. She walked over to one and with a marker drew a bulls-eye. Stepping back, she indicated for him to throw a few kunai. He did so, sending one directly into the middle while others landed in disarray around and inside of the bulls-eye.

Naruto's eyes widened and he scowled at the post. "No way! My accuracy was no where near that bad when I took the exam!" He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the post.

The brown-haired girl shook her head, the corner of her mouth turned up in a good-humored smirk. "Don't worry, Naruto, the wind must have caught them. Here, I'll give them back and you can try again." She pulled the knives from the post and turned to give them to Naruto. Her eyes narrowed and she frowned as her gaze drifted across the kunai. She held one up and examined it closely in the sunlight. She pressed on fingertip hard against the blade and drew it down to the base, then examined her finger to find that it wasn't damaged at all.

"What's the matter, Tenten?" Naruto asked, stepping up to the brown-haired girl.

Tenten held up one hand to silence him then held the kunai up to her eye and gazed down the blade. "It's bent..." she murmured to herself, then lowered the kunai and looked at it, "It's also dull and covered with nicks and scratches." Raising her voice so that Naruto could hear her, "How long have you had these knives?"

Naruto's eyebrows rose, "Um, I got them the day I graduated. The set Iruka-sensei gave me when I started at the academy had gotten way too dull to even practice with."

"Hm..." Tenten murmured. "When was the first time you used them?"

"Yesterday."

Tenten's eyebrows pinched in confusion. "Where did you buy these?" she asked, holding up the kunai.

The blonde thought for a second, "Hm... Razota's First Defense I believe."

"My dad is good friends with Razota..." Tenten said, more to herself then to Naruto. "I know he has good merchandise, I've been in the shop before." She placed a thoughtful finger on her chin and then shrugged. " Some old kunai might have been accidentally mixed in with the good ones. How about we go talk to him after today's mission?"

OoOoOo

"You've gotta be kidding?" Naruto shouted, pointing at the Hokage. "Come on Old Man, that isn't a mission. What kind of self-respecting ninja would chase after a cat?"

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted, "Show Hokage-sama some respect!"

Sarutobi cleared his throat. "Now Naruto, I know that this is not what you expected to be doing now that you are a ninja, but you must understand that this is what all genin start out doing. D-rank missions are an important part of the Leaf Village's economy."

Naruto scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, but remained silent. Gai grinned, slamming a firm hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Yes, my young pupil, D-rank missions are essential starting point for a fresh Gennin to get a feel for our mission system without endangering their lives like they will in their future missions.

Tenten leaned over to Lee and whispered, "I don't know. If what I've heard about this Tora-chan is true, then I figure we may have a problem on our hands."

OoOoOo

"I officially _hate_ D-rank missions!" Naruto shouted, marching ahead of his teammate. The orange jacket that he had been wearing that morning was tied around his waist, its arms nothing but shreds of torn orange fabric. His face and forearms were now covered in many angry red scratch-marks.

Behind him, the cat was curled up in Tenten's arms, purring softly. "Wow Naruto, I don't know what makes this cat hate you so much. He seems pretty sweet to me."

Naruto rounded on her, his eyes wild. "Don't let the little beast fool you!" he cried, pointing an accusing finger at the feline. "It's only playing innocent right now. If you let your guard down for even an instant it will definitely attack you!"

Tenten laughed, "I think you might be taking this a little too seriously, Naruto."

Team Eleven's other two members had decided to jog ahead of the group to make sure that not a second of the day's potential training was wasted, leaving Tenten and Naruto alone to deal with the still volatile cat. It hissed at Naruto whenever he got too close, agitating the blonde even more. "I'm going to be _so _glad when this stupid mission is over!"

OoOoOoOoOo

**Well, here's chapter three! Yet again, I'm really sorry about the lateness of this chapter, but I still have little to no computer access due to a combination of horrid viruses and lack of money...so...yeah.**

**I'd would like to extend a sincere thank-you to my beta. Without her hard work (and patience with my constant misspelling of words like 'sensei' and 'definitely') this story would not bet half of what it is. Thanks again, Nokito-chan!**

**I will get to work with chapter four just as soon as I can, but I don't know for sure when it'll be out. Bear with me guys, and don't burn my house down. Okay?**


	4. The Seal

**A.N. (_Laughs Nervously) _How's it going everybody. I'm really sorry about the delay with this chapter. My computer is still acting up, and I was put even further behind because I was at JCLC(a summer camp for JROTC) for about a week with absolutely no access to the outside world, let alone a computer. So, please keep your torches and pitchforks safely in your closets, you don't want to lose them!**

**Spoiler Alert: This chapter contains a few plot points from very recently in the manga. So if you're not up to current, beware, some very mind-blowing plot developments from the Naruto manga will be revealed in this chapter and from now on. You can read the manga at manga (dot) animeA (dot) net. AnimeA isn't a misspelling of anime, remember to type the second A.**

**By the way everyone, I have an account on youtube, and if you want to check out some of my AMVs, my user name is RakuzaXI. Come on, I need the hits!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Naruto and Tenten sat in the shade of a large tree, watching Lee and Gai continue their training while they caught their breath. "How do they do it?" panted Tenten, her forehead glistening with sweat.

Shaking his head, Naruto answered, "I have no idea, I've been training with Busy-Brow for the past year-and-a-half and I still don't understand how he has so much stamina. I always thought _**I **_full of energy." He laughed and leaned back against a tree.

A silence fell between them for a while. After a moment, Tenten glanced over at her teammate, a guy who was normally a chatterbox, and frowned. His head was tilted back against the tree and his face had a somber look to it. Over the past day or so, she had noticed that he had gotten a lot quieter and rarely said anything unless someone talked to him first. "Naruto," she spoke up. When he glanced over at her, she continued, "Can I ask you something?"

Naruto sat up and shrugged, "Yeah, shoot."

"Why have you been so quiet for the past few days? Is something wrong?" The concern in Tenten's voice was clear.

"Oh..." Naruto said, a smile splitting across his face, "I've just been having some trouble sleeping is all. Bad dreams, you know?"

The corners of Tenten's lips turned up in a warm smile. "Okay," she said, "Sorry for prying, you just had me worried is all. After all, you're normally such a chatterbox."

Naruto chuckled, "Thanks? I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not."

OoOoOo

Tenten stood outside of a building with her eyes on the shop sign, smiling to herself. Her thoughts turned back to the previous day with Naruto at the training field. _'Geez,'_ she thought, _'Naruto's hopeless, I bet he would have just kept using that faulty kunai until the handle broke of in his hand!'_ She laughed softly, shaking her head, and stepped into the building.

The tinkle of bells filled the shop as the door was pushed open. The owner, a bald, middle-aged man, glanced up from a form on his desk. "Welcome to Razota's First Defense!" He called cheerfully. "How can I help you?"

Tenten approached the counter and smiled at him. "Hello, Mr. Razota, how are you?"

A wide grin split the man's face. "Well, if it isn't little Tenten! I haven't seen you in months! I'm doing fine, my arthritis is acting up a little, but what can I say, that's getting old for ya." He leaned forward and asked, "So, have you finally realized how good my weapons are and decided to buy from me instead of your old man?"

Tenten shook her head. "No, but your weapons are actually why I'm here."

Razota's eyebrows rose, "Oh yeah? What about 'em? Somebody tell ya that they're made by the most talented man in Konoha?" he asked, a smirk still on his face.

She shuffled her feet a little. "I think that some of the used or faulty weapons you buy from your customers may have accidentally been mixed in with your inventory."

Eyebrows drawn in confusion, Razota asked, "Really? What makes you think that?"

"Well..." Tenten began, "I was helping my teammate train, and I noticed that his kunai knives were in poor shape. I told him to buy some new ones and he said he'd bought the ones he was using then a few days before. Apparently he bought them from your shop, Mr. Razota. Naruto was actually supposed to come with me today, but his training with Lee ran ov-"

"Did you say Naruto?" he interrupted, "Uzumaki Naruto?"

Tenten smiled, "Oh, so you know him. Good, now-"

Razota scowled and interrupted her again, "The weapons that I sold to the brat are perfectly sufficient for _him_."

Tenten looked at him, confused, "What are you talking about." The brunette pulled one of Naruto's kunai from her belt. "See?" she asked, indicating the many chinks on the blade. She took out a second knife, this time one of her own, and struck the two blades together. Holding Naruto's kunai up, she pointed out a fresh dent on the knife's edge. "This blade was made with inferior steel. I think a bad batch of-"

"The kunai I sold to the brat were perfectly acceptable," Razota repeated, "I tested them myself, just like all of my other merchandise. The little monster must have gotten those somewhere else and is lying about it to try and ruin my business."

"Monster? What in the world are you talking about?" Her eyebrows narrowed in anger, "How dare you call Naruto a monster! What's he ever done to you?"

Razota shook his head, "Get out of my store, business hours are over." He stepped out from behind the counter and guided her towards the door.

"Hey, wait a second-" Tenten began, but before she could finish he had shoved her out onto the street and shut the door behind her. She stood outside for a moment, staring at the door, now more confused then ever.

OoOoOo

Kakashi sat inside the Jonin meeting room, idly reading his little orange book. He glanced up briefly as the door opened and a green-garbed man walked in. "How's it going, Gai?"

Gai chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Kakashi. Just the man I was looking for. So, how did your genin fair in their quest to become great ninja?"

"They failed," Kakashi answered in absolute monotone, turning a page in his book.

The other man blanched, eyes going wide, "What? Another failure? How?" he asked, obviously shocked.

Eyebrows raised, the silver-haired Jonin answered, "None of them could work as a team. Two of them showed some promise, but that Hyuuga kid was in it only for himself. He absolutely refused to accept or offer any help, so of course I failed them." Kakashi turned his attention back to his book. "From the way you're acting, I have to assume that your team passed."

Gai's chest puffed up and he pointed a thumb at himself. "Why of course, Kakashi! Just as I told you, I was blessed with an amazingly talented group of genin! Why, I would venture to say that they are the best team that has ever come out of the academy. I'll bet that within a handful of years, they will all be Jonin and will be recorded in the history books as legends! What do you think of that, Kakashi?"

A moment passed, then Kakashi seemed to snap out of a trance. "I'm sorry, Gai. Did you say something?"

OoOoOo

Lee yawned and sat down at the base of a tree. He looked out at the horizon and watched the deep reds and oranges of the sunset slowly fade, his mind wondering. He and Naruto had been training since the mission their team had had that day was over. Tenten had trained for awhile, but left around three to go do something in town. Naruto had left an hour ago, saying something about having to eat some ramen with Iruka.

Another day of training was finished, and he should be heading home so that he could rest up for the next, but the green-clad genin found himself unwilling to move just yet. He didn't know why, he just didn't feel like moving. Shrugging, he crossed his hands behind his head and shut his eyes. Within a few minutes, he had drifted off to sleep.

OoOoOo

Lee was awakened almost an hour later by harsh breathing. He sat up from his place on the ground, and looked off at the horizon. The sun was now only a glimmer of light, quickly giving way to the awaiting night. Jumping to his feet, Lee followed the sound to a nearby training area. Standing in front of a post, obviously exhausted, was Hyuuga Neji. Sweat coated his brow, and his shoulders rose and fell rapidly with his breathing.

"What do you want?" Neji asked, not even turning to face the other ninja.

The sound of Neji's voice in the silence was like a firecracker, Lee couldn't stop himself from jumping. He had definitely not been expecting the boy to notice him. Quickly recovering from his shock, Lee answered with a big grin on his face. "Nothing, my youthful friend! I was just investigating the noises that I heard. I now realize that it was only the sound of another Leaf ninja expressing his flames of youth!"

Neji grunted then continued pounding the post.

"When we finished our missions for the day, I started training with the same ferocity as you. How many missions have you completed yourself?"

Neji still did not turn towards him.

"What's the highest rank mission you've completed? We just completed our most recent D-rank, recapturing Tora-chan, but I'm sure you know all about that cat, right Neji? You know how hard that little beast is to capture, we sure had a time of it." Lee scratched the back of his head, laughing good-naturly.

Neji snorted with contempt and hit the training post hard enough to make it quiver. "Speak for yourself, Lee. I'm no ninja."

Lee raised one thick eyebrow, confused. "What are you saying, Neji-san. Did you not pass your sensei's exam?

Whirling around, Neji fixed Lee with an intense glare. "Obviously not," he spat, contempt filling his voice.

"How is this possible, were you not the top of our class this year? I thought that surely you would have passed."

Neji glared at Lee for a long moment, as if contemplating whether or not to say something. Then, after taking a long, calming breath, he whispered. "Leave me alone, Lee. I have no inclination to be talking to a cr-" he bit his tongue. "To be talking to you. Go." The Hyuuga turned his back on the green-clothed shinobi.

Lee watched Neji take a few more strikes at the post and then sighed. Turning, he walked away.

OoOoOo

_The steady sound of dripping water filled the halls where Naruto suddenly found himself. He looked at the floor and noticed that he was standing ankle deep in water. Eyes shifting rapidly around him, the blonde tried to figure out where he was. For some unknown reason, he began walking down the hallway._

_A cold lump of dread settled its way into the pit of his stomach. He didn't know what it was, but he was approaching something...big. He could feel killer intent rolling towards him from the end of the hallway like waves from an ocean. All the same, he could not stop his feet from taking him towards the source of this horrible presence._

_Then, as if by magic, a large gate materialized out of thin air several meters in front of him. On the gate was a single piece of paper, stuck to the line where the two doors met one another. On the paper was one word, "seal". Every part of his brain was screaming at him to run, just to get as far away from this evil as he could. But no matter how hard he tried to resist, he could not make his body listen to him._

_A deep, cold voice rang out from the darkness behind the cage, _"**So...this is the brat that I have been kept a prisoner inside of for these long years..."** _A long chuckle followed that sent shivers up Naruto's spine._ **"Now, why don't you take that seal off of this gate for me like a good little human, eh mortal?"**

_Finally managing to regain control of his legs, Naruto took several quick steps back from the giant cage. "Wh- Who are you?"_

_The thing in the cage laughed again. _**"My, my. How sad, they never told you a thing, did they. Even after all you've been through, they didn't see fit to tell you why it all happened. What a shame."**

"_Tell me what? Who are you?" Naruto yelled, advancing a step._

_A pair of red eyes appeared behind the bars. _**"I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune. And I have been sealed inside of you since you were a mere baby."**

_Naruto's eyes widened and disbelief was written all over his face. "No...that's impossible. You're lying!"_

"**It's true,"**_ the voice began, a grin of glistening white teeth appearing below the eyes, _**"I was sealed inside of you by the Yondaime himself almost as soon as I had escaped the imprisonment of that red-haired whore!"** _The Kyuubi paused and then continued, its voice compassionate _**"I've seen the way they treat you. It really is unfair. After all, it's the Fourth's fault I'm sealed inside of you, not yours. I'll tell you what, how about you rip off that seal, and then we can get revenge on those bastards. What do you say?"**

_Naruto walked forward to the cell and raised his hand to the seal, gripping it by the corner. There was a short pause, then he let go of the seal at let his hand fall to his side. "No..." he whispered, staring down at his feet._

"**What?"** _the Kyuubi growled, its face inches from the cell bars._

_Naruto's head snapped up and he fixed the demon with a hard glare. "I'm not going to let you destroy all of those people. Once I become Hokage, they will look up to me, and respect me!"_

_A rage-filled roar erupted from the cell. _**"Let me out of here you insolent mortal!"**_ The Kyuubi cried. A claw shot out from between the bars and sped towards Naruto's body._

OoOoOo

Naruto shot up in bed, eyes wide. His shirt was soaked through with sweat and clung to his body. He swung his feet off of the bed and leaned over, cradling his head in his hands. "Another dream..." he whispered to himself. He had been having them for over two weeks, but they had never gotten as far as this one. Every other time, he would wake up as soon as he saw the cage with the word "seal" written on it.

His eyes shifted over to the clock and he sighed. It was only three-thirty in the morning. _'Same time as __yesterday...'_ he thought dully. Standing up, he stretched his arms over his head and walked over to the fridge. He opened the door and took out a carton of milk. After taking a few gulps, he replaced the carton and closed the door. He looked at the bed thoughtfully for a moment then shook his head, "There's no way in hell I'm getting back to sleep after that," he murmured.

Grabbing a change of clothes from his dresser, Naruto walked into the bathroom. After he had brushed his teeth, he took off his sweat drenched garb, and jumped into the shower. Once he had washed himself, he stepped out and dried himself off, then put on his clothes. Naruto left the bathroom and walked back over to the kitchen area of his apartment. Putting some water on the stove to boil, he took out a cup of ramen and placed it on the counter.

"Why not?" he asked himself suddenly, then reached up into the cabinet. From inside he pulled out the orange ramen bowl he had found on his door-step the other day. He smiled, looking at it, _'Someone gave me a present...'._Setting the bowl down on the counter, Naruto turned back to the stove and picked up the now boiling water. He poured it into the cup of ramen and looked at the clock again. "Four ten..." he muttered to himself then walked back over to his bed.

Bending down, he grabbed his sandals and strapped them on, stealing the occasional glance at the clock. He hooked on his kunai pouch and shuriken holster then walked over to the kitchen area and peeled off the ramen cup's top. After pouring the ramen into his new bowl, he sat down at the kitchen table and started eating.

OoOoOo

Naruto could see a faint trace of light on the horizon when he arrived at the training field that morning. Shrugging off his vest, he hung it on the branch of a nearby tree and walked over to a clear area of the training field. He formed the ram seal and began focusing. When he felt that he had enough chakra, he released the jutsu. In front of him, two copies of himself appeared in a puff of smoke. He growled in irritation as he examined them before letting them vanish. They were perfect copies but...

No matter how hard he tried, he could not seem to make more then two! Everyday for the last three months he had practiced and this was as far as he had gotten. He would never achieve his goal of becoming Hokage at this rate. "Maybe I could get Gai-sensei's help with-"

His phrase was cut off as a voice called out to him from behind, "Hey, Naruto, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

Naruto turned, eyebrows raised. He knew that voice. It took him a second to recognize the man in the dim morning light. "Mizuki-sensei?" he asked, confusion evident in his voice.

OoOoOo

Gai knocked on the door to the Hokage's office. A moment passed, and then the easily recognizable voice of the Third called, "Enter."

Opening the door, Gai walked into the Hokage's office, a big smile on his face. "Hello, Hokage-sama! How are you this fine morning?"

Sarutobi smiled, "Ah, Gai, what a pleasant surprise. Please, take a seat," he greeted, gesturing to a chair near his desk. Gai nodded and sat down in the offered seat. "Now, may I ask the reason behind this little visit?"

"Well," Gai began, his voice losing all traces of good cheer. "The matter concerns Naruto. I think you can think the reason behind why I'm here."

His face now dead serious, Sarutobi asked, "The Nine-Tailed Fox?"

Gai nodded, "Yes, Hokage-sama." The green-clad Jonin leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "For the passed few days, ever since I came in contact with the boy, I've been feeling the presence of the Kyuubi. Not only that, but it seems to grow a little stronger ever day. Do you know why this may be?"

Sarutobi heaved a great sigh. "Yes, Jiraiya warned me that this might happen." He picked up his pipe and began filling it with tobacco. "The last time I saw him, he told me that as Naruto got older, the seal would continue to weaken. Eventually, it would level off as his body developed a way to suppress the nine-tails' chakra."

"Should we not tell him of what's happening? He's been acting differently for the past few days, I think he knows that something is amiss."

Holding a match to his pipe, Sarutobi inhaled deeply through the stem. He looked grimly at the other man sitting across from him. After a moment of thought, he began, "Yes, I believe that you are right. The boy has grown a lot in the past few years, and I think he is ready to learn of the secret. I give you permission to pass this information onto him, but I beg that you do it with utmost sensitivity. The news will be a big shock to Naruto, and I do not know how well he will take it."

Gai glanced at window briefly then back to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, I was young when all of this happened, and the older shinobi made sure we didn't get into the battle, so I am unfamiliar with many details of that night. Can you tell me the full story of what happened?"

Sarutobi lurched to his feet and walked slowly over to the window behind his desk, puffing on his pipe. He stared out over the village for over a minute before speaking up. "Well," he began, his voice grave, "To start with, the Kyuubi no Kitsune was not behind the attack on Konoha that night."

Gai's eyebrows raised considerably, "What do you mean, Hokage-sama? I sensed the Kitsune, I know it was there."

"Yes, the Kyuubi was there, but it was under the control of someone else."

Shock filing his voice, Gai asked, "There is someone capable of controlling a Bijuu?"

Nodding, Sarutobi turned to face the eccentric Jonin. "Several hours before the Kyuubi attacked the village, Uzumaki Kushina gave birth to Naruto." The Hokage took a long, shaky breath, "A masked man broke into the building where she gave birth only minutes after the delivery. Somehow, he was able to distract her husband long enough to kidnap her."

"Who was her husband?" Gai asked suddenly, although somewhere in his mind he already knew the answer.

"Namakazi Minato, the Yondaime of Konoha," answered Sarutobi.

Gai stared at him, stunned. He had never known that the Hokage had a wife. He didn't even know if they were allowed to be married.

"It was kept a secret to make sure Kushina and Naruto would be safe," Sarutobi answered, not even needing the other man to voice his question. "After all, Minato was not exactly a well-liked man, especially in Iwagakure.

Slowly nodding his head in understanding, Gai whispered, "Please, go on."

OoOoOo

"What are you doing here, Mizuki-sensei?" asked Naruto, grinning at his former instructor. He had never known the man very well, but he graded papers generously, so Naruto couldn't help but like him at least a little bit.

Mizuki laughed, "Well actually, your sensei sent me to give you an important assignment."

Eyes widening, Naruto started waving his arms frantically. "Really? What kind? I bet its some super cool top-secret mission that he can only trust me with! I knew my day would come!"

A smile appearing on his face, Mizuki explained, "Actually Naruto, this is a specially designed training course to test your aptitude. Should you manage to pass the course, you will be taught a brand new jutsu."

Naruto's eyes lit up and he jumped into the air, "Woohoo! Yosh! This is so cool!"

Taking a step closer to Naruto, Mizuki began to explain the test to the young blonde.

OoOoOo

The trees sped by on either side of Mizuki as he jumped across branches towards the village. This was absolutely perfect. When the fool actually managed to pass the genin exams, Mizuki had feared that his plans would have to be put on hold even longer. It turned out, however, that the Uzumaki was even more gullible then he thought.

To think that idiot actually believes that stealing the ancient scroll of sealing from the Hokage tower is a mission! Naruto would believe anything if you told him it would make him stronger, and that was a good thing for Mizuki. Despite it being years since the incident involving the injured ninja on his squad, he was still under the close watch of the ANBU black ops.

Naruto was the perfect puppet. Stupid, loyal, disposable, and most importantly, he was in and out of the Hokage tower so often, it was very unlikely that anyone would take notice of him. Now all Mizuki had to do was sit back and watch his plan unfold.

OoOoOo

Naruto sped through the forest, a large grin nearly splitting his face in two. "That was so easy!" he exclaimed, glancing over his shoulder again to ensure that he was not being followed. After taking a few more steps, the blonde slowed to a stop in front of an old shack in the middle of a small clearing. "I guess this is the spot he was talking about," the blonde murmured, shrugging the giant scroll from his shoulders.

Sitting down, he unfurled the scroll and spread it across his lap. "Guess I should start with the first one." His eyes scanned over the paper for a moment, then he slapped a palm to his forehead. "Shadow Clone technique? Man, clones are my worst jutsu!"

OoOoOo

Tenten stood under the tree at Team Eleven's meeting spot, looking vaguely worried. Lee was running laps around the grounds, but neither Gai-sensei nor Naruto had shown up on the usual meeting time. "Lee!" she called, getting his attention.

The green-clad genin sprinted over to her and started jogging in place in front of her. "Yes, Tenten-chan?"

"Lee, it's been almost three hours, I'm worried. Something's happened, I know it." Tenten took a step forward and placed her hands on his shoulders, "I want to find Naruto, will you help me?"

Before Lee had a chance to answer, a cloud of smoke erupted in front of the two of them. When the cloud dissipated, the Green Beast of Konoha stood before them. His usual chipper attitude, however, was not present. "Tenten, Lee, the two of you need to stay here and go through training schedule B three times, understood?"

"Where's Naruto?" Tenten asked, her voice now tinged with dread.

Gai look at them for a long moment, then answered, "It is highly possible that Naruto has attempted to become a missing-nin. Early this morning, he broke into the Hokage tower and stole something of great importance from the village."

"What?" Lee cried, "That's impossible, I'm Naruto-kun's best friend, I know him, Gai-sensei! He wouldn't do something like this!"

Tenten stepped forward, "Lee's right, Gai-sensei. We've all been on this team with each other for almost five months now, how could you possibly think Naruto did this? We need to find him!"

"Neither of you are to try and find him, he is considered extremely dangerous. If you go after him, the punishment will be severe," he said, his voice slightly cold, "If you help him," his voice now sounded extremely strained, "Your punishment will be that of a traitor's. Understood?"

"Y-yes, Gai-sensei," Lee murmured, his eyes down-cast. At his sides, his fists were now clenched.

Tenten's entire body shook with anger and her voice was spiteful when she answered, "Yes, sensei."

Gai nodded silently and vanished in another cloud of smoke.

"So Tenten-chan, where do we start looking?" Lee asked, glancing over at her, a small grin on his face.

A grateful smile graced Tenten's lips, "I'm not sure, I would wager the forest. That doesn't really help much though, does it? It's not like we can see through trees."

From the edge of the field, a voice spoke up, "Um...I c-could help you."

Both genin whirled around to face the newcomer. Standing near the tree line was an academy student Tenten vaguely remembered from her time in the academy. She was a Hyuuga, maybe a year younger then them. "I'm sorry, what's you're name? I remember you from the academy."

Her voice still wavering, the girl answered, "Hinata."

OoOoOo

The excited murmuring of Konoha's Chuunin and Jonin population filled the meeting room. By now, all of them had learned the reason behind their summons, and none were thrilled about it. It had been almost four hours since the scroll was taken and they still hadn't received their orders.

Appearing before them in a cloud of smoke, Sarutobi held up his hand for silence. The noise ceased completely. "As I am sure all of you are aware, early this morning the Scroll of Sealing was taken from my tower." The aging Hokage surveyed them for a moment, "Now, I want it and Uzumaki Naruto found. You are not to use deadly force. Am I understood?"

A loud "Yes, Hokage-sama!" exploded from the group of ninja.

Sarutobi nodded, then brought his arm down in a sharp arc. The ninja were gone in an instant.

OoOoOo

Naruto stood panting in the middle of the field, he looked absolutely exhausted, but a large grin adorned his face. "I did it!" he yelled, pumping one fist into the air. He had finally mastered the clone technique. He could make way more than three, he couldn't believe how easy it seemed now. "I don't understand why they don't just teach this in the academy, its way easier than the normal clone technique.

The blonde looked up sharply as the sound of clapping emanated loudly from the tree-tops above him. From his place on one of the branches, Mizuki called down, "Bravo, Naruto. Very impressive."

_'Something's off...'_ Naruto thought. Smiling nervously, he called back, "What's up, Mizuki-sensei? How'd I do? Did I pass?"

Mizuki jumped down from the branch, landing in a crouch. "With flying colors, Naruto." He stood up, pulling a giant shuriken from its holster on his back. "Now," he began, taking a few steps towards Naruto, "Hand over the scroll, and I'll make your death as quick as I possibly can."

Naruto took a step back and found himself caught between Mizuki and the building behind him. "W-wait a second, this wasn't a test! You used me to steal the scroll for you!"

Grinning, Mizuki raised the shuriken over his head and cried, "You catch on quick!" As the words left his mouth, the Chuunin brought the weapon down towards Naruto's head.

OoOoOoOoOo

**Well, there's chapter four, I hope ya'll liked it. I'm gonna start on five as soon as I can, but I can't make any speculations on the release date of it. Hehe, my production rate is probably gonna stay about the same, because even though the craziness of summer is over, I now have APUSH to keep me busy T.T**

**Also, if you're a fan of Avatar the Last Airbender -(Which I don't own, stupid laws...) Then be on the lookout for a new story I'm working on called _The Hand Your Dealt_. Don't worry devoted readers, _A Different Start_ is still my priority, but I'm trying an Avatar story to keep the creative juices flowing.**

**Until next time, peace!**


	5. Revelations

**A.N. So...yeah. I really don't have an adequate excuse for this one. For a while, progress on this story was completely non-existent. But now I've re-established the spark and while I can't make any promises, chapter six could plausibly be out by New Years. Cross your fingers, that should keep your hands too busy to carry your torches and pitch forks!**

**Wow, everyone, thanks for the support! I checked the stats today and as of now _A Different Start_ has 3,102 hits, is on the favorites list of twenty-three members, and on the alert list of forty. Ya'll don't know how much that means to me! Thanks again!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**OoOoOoOoOo**

"Do you see him?" Tenten asked the girl to her right, her voice filled with worry.

It took a moment for Hinata to answer, "I-I can see his f-foot prints," she said softly. "I th-think he's just ahead."

From Tenten's left, Lee said, "Do not worry, Tenten-chan, I am sure that our Naruto-kun is fine! After all, I know him! He's too youthful to have really done such a thing!"

"I hope you're right, Lee," Tenten whispered.

"I see him!" Hinata spoke up suddenly, pointing a finger.

The group sped up, quickly eating up the distance between them and the young genin they had been tracking. After a moment, the sight of two familiar figures appeared in the distance.

Tenten's eyes widened, "Is that Mizuki-sensei?" she asked.

All three stopped, eyes locked on the two males. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief as she too realized who the man was. "Thank goodness."

As they watched, the taller of the two suddenly lunged forward, a shuriken spinning at his side. Tenten barely had time to let out a frightened gasp before Lee had vanished from his place at her side in a blur.

OoOoOo

Naruto wasn't sure what had just happened. One moment, Mizuki's giant shuriken was inches from cutting his head clean from his shoulders, the next he was staring at Lee's back and Mizuki was lying in a heap several feet to their left. "Lee?"

The other genin did not turn to Naruto, his eyes were locked on his former sensei. "Yes, Naruto-kun. Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine," Naruto answered, snapping out of his shock.

"You fucking brat!" Mizuki screamed, sitting up from his place on the ground. Blood oozed from his nose and lip, and a large bruise was forming on the right side of his face. Climbing to his feet, he fixed Lee with a glare. "You're gonna pay for that kick, you freak!" His arms flashed out, sending a volley of shuriken and kunai that neither of the two genin had even noticed him draw.

A giant shuriken flew from the tree-line, deflecting the throwing weapons. Mizuki briefly noted that it was the one he had dropped when the green-clad freak had kicked him, before it disappeared into the woods on the other side of the clearing.

"Tenten's here too?" Naruto whispered to Lee, advancing a step to stand beside his teammate.

Mizuki began laughing, his eyes filled with a crazy mirth. "Isn't this cute, two freaks and a little girl trying to protect one another." He unclasped a second massive shuriken from his back and took a step forward. A cloud of kunai flew from the forest, sending severed branches and leaves out with the weapons. With a casual flick of his wrist, Mizuki deflected the thrown blades with his own shuriken.

"Lee," Naruto murmured, getting the other genin's attention. "Get into formation seven B, but follow procedures for attack pattern thirteen."

The green-clad youth nodded and shifted his body three steps over and up to Naruto's right. He drew a kunai from its pouch and adopted a stance akin to that of a boxer.

Another laugh erupted from Mizuki's throat. He advanced a second step, "You really think that a defensive strategy that they teach at the _academy _will protect you from me? Hell, I'm one of the ones who _teaches_ defense strategies!" His steps slowly quickened, before the chuunin sprinted forward, spinning the shuriken at his side as he zeroed in on Lee.

As Mizuki neared Lee, the genin fell back as if struck by an invisible fist. From his peripheral vision, Mizuki only just saw the flash of orange in time to raise his forearms and block a vicious cross-kick from Naruto. Mizuki swung the shuriken forward to retaliate, but was sent sprawling as Lee swept his legs out from under him.

Jumping back, Naruto snatched the scroll from the ground and grabbed Lee's arm, "Let's go!" He shouted, pulling the other genin towards the trees. Together, they dashed into the dense underbrush and out of sight.

Mizuki sat up, rubbing the back of his head gingerly. "Damn, these brats are making a fool of me." Jumping to his feet, the blue-haired Chuunin glared in the direction of their escape. "That's it, I'm tired of this game. The gloves are coming off. When I catch up to them I'll slit their throats and let them bleed out on the ground like the pigs they are." A sadistic grin crossed his face, then he added, "But not before I exact my revenge for every last obstacle they've put in my way."

OoOoOo

"Why is Mizuki-sensei after you?" Lee asked, cocking his head slightly in Naruto's direction.

Naruto glanced at Lee momentarily before answering, "He used me to steal the Scroll of Sealing for him." Naruto jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the scroll strapped to his back. "I think he was planning to kill me and defect from the village."

Lee's eyes widened, "Wow. This is completely unacceptable! What could have gotten into Mizuki-sensei?"

A rustling in the trees brought both boys to attention, and after a moment, Tenten appeared from the brush and fell into step beside them. "Are you two okay?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

A smile lit Naruto's face. "Yeah, thanks to you! You were amazing, Tenten-chan!"

Tenten smiled at him, a light tinge of pink appearing on her cheeks. "Thanks Naruto, but Lee saved you. If he hadn't moved so quickly, I don't know what would have happened."

Looking over at Tenten, Lee asked, "Where is Hinata-san?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

"She's a girl from the academy who helped us find you. She went off to find help after you and Lee started fighting Mizuki-sensei," Tenten said, answering the two boys' questions. "I think-" Tenten's head shot up and she abruptly shouted, "Get down!" In one fluid motion, she gripped her teammates by their shoulders and forced them down.

The three tumbled from the branches and towards the ground. Less than a second later, a giant shuriken sliced through the air where they had been standing only moments before, filling the air with a buzzing sound. They landed with a thud, followed by a sharp cracking noise and an agonized cry.

Mizuki appeared from the tree-line, grinning like a mad-man. His face was mottled with bruises and blood was dripping down his face from his mouth and temple. "Well, well, looks like I managed to catch up with you, huh?"

Tenten and Lee climbed to their feet, keeping their eyes locked on their former sensei. Naruto, however, remained curled up the ground, holding his right arm to his chest. Even in the faint light, the others could see the glistening tip of a bone jutting from his forearm, blood flowing to the ground.

A gasp escaping her throat, Tenten knelt next to her orange-clad teammate. "Oh god, Naruto," she whispered, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..."

A dry laugh slipped from Naruto's lips and he stretched his good arm up to her. "It wasn't your fault. Stay focused."

Nodding slightly, Tenten grasped his hand and helped the blonde to his feet. She shifted to his left, leaving Naruto in the middle of the group. Her right hand slid down to the shuriken holster on her thigh, ready to throw the small stars should Mizuki move.

"Well," Mizuki began, "Here we are again." His finger twitched, and his giant shuriken sprung back to his hand, a pile of wire forming at his feet.

Naruto took a step forward, "Why are you doing this? Why would you betray your own village?"

Laughing, Mizuki tossed his weapon from hand to hand. "Because this _village_ has grown soft. Their very decision to let something like you live is testament to that."

Anger flashed across Tenten's face, memories of her earlier encounter with the store clerk flooding her mind. "What are you saying?" she shouted, glaring at the blue-haired chuunin. "Naruto is no different than anyone else!"

Mizuki laughed again, his face twisted into a cruel smile. "Of course you don't know. That old fool of a Hokage made a decree to keep the knowledge from the younger generation. After all, how would they react if they knew what was walking among them every day?"

Tenten and Lee looked confused. Stepping forward, Lee asked harshly, "What do you mean?"

A sense of dawning appeared on Naruto's face, and he took several steps forward. "Wait, don't tell them!"

"Who could have guessed, that all this time they had shared a school with the-"

Eyes wide, Naruto raised his left arm and yelled, "No! Stop!"

"Kyuubi no Kitsune."

OoOoOo

Hinata dashed through the streets of Konoha, her Byakugan activated. She was desperately searching for the eccentric man dressed in green that she knew to be Naruto's sensei. Just as she was losing hope of locating him, a blur of green appeared at the far edge of her vision. Putting on a burst of speed, she rounded the corner and saw the spandex covered man standing in front of the counter of Ichiraku ramen.

"Have either of you seen Naruto?" she heard him ask, slightly out of breath.

The owner and his daughter looked at the green-clad man quizzically. The owner, Teuchi, spoke up, "No, sorry. Is all this fuss because of him? What happened?"

The Hyuuga girl caught up with him before the Jounin had had a chance to answer. "Ex-excuse me, m-mister. A-are you Ga-Gai-sensei?" She panted, doubled over with her hands on her knees.

"Yes young lady, I am." Gai said quickly, a sinking feeling appearing in the pit of his stomach. "What do you need?"

Looking up at him, she said, "Naruto-kun a-and the rest of you-your team are in trouble. M-Mizuki-sensei is attacking them. I d-don't know why."

Eyes wide, Gai took her by the shoulders and gently pushed her out of the ramen stand. "Take me to them."

OoOoOo

Naruto's hand dropped to his side, a terrible sense of dread filling his body. Tears welling in his eyes, he thought, _'They know now...'_

Something inside of him broke.

"That's right!" Mizuki screamed manically. You've been spending your time with a fucking demon! You're lucky it hasn't eaten your livers! Then again, he might have been saving the bitch for- What the hell?"

A heavy shroud of evil had fallen over the forest clearing. Naruto was standing still, his face turned towards the ground. His skin began to glow a crimson red and his fingernails hardened and grew into claws. The ominous feeling was rolling off of him in thick waves.

Tenten reached a hand out to him and whispered, her voice a mixture of concern and fear, "Naruto, are you oka-"

Naruto's head snapped up, causing her to cut her sentence short with a small scream. The black lines that had always adorned his cheeks had grown thicker and darker, and his eyes, locked on Mizuki, were now a ferocious red. "You!" he screamed, "You've ruined everything!"

Over his initial shock, the blue-haired chuunin managed a nervous chuckle. "Well, isn't this a shock. The little demon has decided to show its true colors before it dies. How...poetic."

"I'll...kill...you..." he growled, taking a slow step forward. Naruto's voice was now over-powered by a gravely, demonic one. "**I'll make it painful! I promise you that! How about I show you just how much of a demon I am!**" His shattered arm, hanging at his side, suddenly gave a horrendous crack and erupted in a volcano of steam and blood. After the vapor had cleared, he held up his arm and examined it.

His voice now taking on a far colder and experienced tone , he murmured,"**Much better,"** as he admired the unblemished surface of his forearm.

"Naruto-kun!" Lee shouted, his voice unnaturally firm. "You must snap out of it! Wake up, this isn't who you are."

Naruto cast the young genin a bored look, **"Cute. The little human thinks my jailor can still hear him. Unfortunately for you, the seal has slipped, and now I'm in charge."** His gaze shifted to Mizuki, "**However, I believe that I will at least carry out the brat's final revenge before I slaughter his friends."**

Mizuki's former confidence had faded and was now replaced with a look of utmost terror. The demonic killing intent that was now rolling off of Naruto in waves had completely paralyzed the Chuunin. "Don't..." he whimpered, his arm slowly rising in front of his face as if to fend off a blow.

The possessed genin's only response was a laugh far too guttural for any human to produce. His right arm rose above his head, the demonic chakra setting the leaves of a low hanging branch aflame.** "I have so missed this!"** he screamed, bringing the appendage down towards Mizuki's defenseless form. His arm suddenly stopped dead in its tracks, hovering inches above Mizuki. **"What in the seven hells..."** he growled, looking over his shoulder.

Tenten had closed the distance between herself and her blonde teammate. Her hands were clenched firmly on his shoulders, holding him back. "Please, Naruto-kun! Stop this!" she cried, looking into his eyes. Wisps of smokes slipped out from between her fingers and a high-pitched sizzling sound could be heard in the clearing as the demonic chakra burned her skin, but her grip did not loosen. "I know you're still in there! Snap out of it!"

Kyuubi laughed, turning the corners of Naruto's mouth up in a twisted grin. **"This again? Look girly, like I told the other little human, I've escaped the Fourth's pathetic seal and your little **_**'Naruto-kun' **_**can't hear you any-"** His voice hitched, and a low growl escaped his throat. **"Damn it. Stop fighting it you fool, it's hopeless...!"** Face contorting in a grimace, Naruto's possessed form grabbed at its naval, his fingers clutching at the fabric over the seal.

His voice breaking through, Naruto screamed, "Get out!" The blonde stumbled, grasping the sides of his head. He cried out, his face tilting up to the sky. His eyes flashed temporarily to blue before reverting to red.

The movement forced Tenten to relinquish her grip on Naruto, but she didn't retreat, instead choosing to hold her ground.

"**I told you!"** Kyuubi shouted, regaining control of Naruto's body, **"I am in control. Now, obey me like a good little pawn!"**

Naruto pulled at his hair. "Fuck you! I'm no one's puppet."

"Naruto-kun! I know you can do it! Fight him!" Tenten shouted.

Naruto's head snapped in her direction, eyes crimson. "**Shut the hell up you fucking whore!" **He screamed, stumbling again.

OoOoOo

Behind the struggling genin, Mizuki had recovered from his shock. Sitting up, the blue-haired chuunin pulled a kunai from its holster and rose silently to his feet. He slowly made his way over to the boy, drawing on all of his experience to remain undetected. Carefully, he cut the ropes that were holding the scroll to the boys back. Due to their internal struggle, neither of the two beings in Naruto's body took notice.

Scroll in hand, Mizuki turned and quickly made his retreat...

Only to be met with another kick to the face. Falling, he rolled several meters before managing to regain his footing. His insane, bloodshot eyes locked on the form of his assailant. "Not you again, freak."

Lee stood before him, his hands held loftily in front of him. "I am sorry, Mizuki-sensei, but I can not allow you to leave."

Mizuki laughed, "As if you have a chance in hell of stopping me. The only chance of you defeating me was dashed the moment that fool of a demon over there lost its mind." Setting the scroll down, he pointed the kunai at the younger male. "I was gonna let you all live, but now I think I might as well make an example of you, freak."

"If you insist on this behavior then you leave me no choice but to fight you!" Lee's form blurred as he dashed towards his former teacher.

OoOoOo

The blonde genin had fallen to his knees now, clutching desperately at his naval. "I'm...not...letting you...control me!"

"**You don't have a choice! I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune! My power is unrivaled, you pathetic human!"**

Tenten knelt beside of her teammate. Firmly, she grasped his hands with her own. His crimson eyes locked with hers, hate dancing behind the irises. "Naruto-kun...Don't let him win. You're stronger than he is. Push him out!"

"Tenten-chan..." he whispered, the red slowly draining out of his eyes, until only blue was left staring back at her. He slumped to the side, forcing Tenten to release her hold on his hands and catch him. Carefully lowering him to the ground, she shifted so that his head was in her lap.

A small smile appeared on her face as she looked down at him. "Yes, Naruto-kun. It's me."

Naruto smiled back, exhaustion. "He's gone...Thank you..." Eyes drifting closed, and his head lolled to the side as he lost his battle with consciousness.

Careful not to let his head bang against the hard forest floor, Tenten slid out from underneath him. Pulling out a pair of nunchaku she started towards the fight between Mizuki and her teammate. _I'm coming, Lee. Kami help us, I have no idea how we're going to stop this mad man..._

OoOoOo

Lee and Mizuki clashed in midair, kunai meeting with a loud clang. The two dropped to the forest floor, exchanging swipes rapidly. With a practiced flick of his wrist, Mizuki sent Lee's kunai spinning uselessly across the forest clearing. Ducking out of the way of a sloppy punch, the chuunin brought his elbow into the younger male's face.

Staggering back, Lee shook his head to clear away the pain and then dove right back into the fray. However, no matter how fast he was, or how hard he threw his punches, the blue-haired man was always there to counter him with a block or a parry.

A gleeful cackle erupted from Mizuki's throat. "What did I tell you? The only way you can land a blow on me is by resorting to sneak attacks! Face it kid, I'm on a whole other level!" With nonchalant ease he batted away a blow and brought his kunai down in a sharp arch towards Lee's chest.

Lee twisted, attempting to avoid the death blow. However, he wasn't fast enough and the blade sunk half of its length into his shoulder before grinding to a halt against his shoulder blade. As Lee fell forward, Mizuki kicked him in the stomach, sending him into a nearby tree. The force of impact was enough to shake several leaves free and send them drifting down to the forest floor.

Grunting, Lee struggled back to his feet. The kunai had been plunged into his left shoulder, and he could feel it scrape against the bone when he tried to move his arm. Teeth clenched, Lee grabbed the blade's hilt with his good arm.

Mizuki chuckled, "Don't be a fool, if you remove that blade you'll bleed out in a matter of minutes. Even if by some miracle you defeat me, there's no way you'll make it back to the village in time to survive." He took out another kunai and began tossing it from hand to hand. "I'll tell you what, since I'm feeling generous, I won't kill you. As long as you don't interfere with my plans to escape, you and your friends can leave here with you lives."

Lee readjusted his grip on the blade, his eyes locked with Mizuki. "I am sorry, Mizuki-sensei, but as long as you carry that scroll, I am obligated to stop you. If I do not, our village's greatest secrets will be open to the world." As the final words left his lips, Lee gave the knife a mighty jerk, wrenching it from his shoulder. Blood splattered the ground as he sent the blade flying end-over-end towards Mizuki.

"Fool," Mizuki sneered, bringing his kunai up to block, only to be met with unexpected resistance. Looking down in shock, Mizuki saw that his blade had run into another kunai. He briefly saw Tenten's face before his body was lit up with the agony of a knife sinking into his chest. He stumbled, his back hitting the trunk of a tree, then slid down to the ground at its base.

Lee's knees buckled and he fell in a heap where he stood. Tenten ran to her fallen teammate's side and knelt to examine his wounds. "Thank you for the assistance, Tenten-chan," he whispered, "However, I feel I must tell you that I could have stopped him."

Tenten laughed, "Geez, Lee, what was your master plan?"

A grin spread across Lee's face. "I was making it up as I went along."

Both of them jumped violently as laughter erupted behind them. Turning her head, Tenten saw that Mizuki had risen to his feet was walking towards them. "No..." she whispered.

Mizuki's face was spread in a hideous grin. "You know, it looks like you just got unlucky!" He screamed, jerking the kunai from his chest with a grunt. Only the first few centimeters of the blade glistened with blood "Your kunai went through a scroll in my vest! That's just terrible, a little to the left or right and my body would be cooling on the ground right now!" He spun the knife in his hand and held it in a reverse grip. "I would love to drag out your suffering, but seeing as the ANBU are probably on their way here, I best finish you off quickly. After all, it's hard to miss that much demonic chakra." He advanced towards them. "Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it, just a quick slash across the throat and you'll be dead in seconds."

Tenten knew that Lee was in no shape to fight, and even if he was, Mizuki was a _chuunin, _their chances of winning were slim at best. But by herself, she realized that there was no chance in hell of her winning. _But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna try..._ Standing, she drew the nunchaku that she had stowed in her kunai pouch and slipped into a fighting stance.

"Oh please, girly, don't embarrass yourself. Just acc-" Mizuki's head snapped to the side as he felt a sudden spike of killing intent. A blurred form was less then a meter from him. Raising his arm in a sloppy block, the blue-haired man tried to fend off the attack.

"Leaf Hurricane!"

A resounding crack rang through the area as Mizuki's arm broke like a twig. The vicious kick sent him flying into a nearby tree. Several more snapping noise emanated from the chuunin's body and the tree shook violently from the impact. Mizuki lay at the base of the tree, screaming. Several jagged bones jutted from his side, spilling blood onto the ground.

Recovering from her shock, Tenten realized who their rescuer was. "Gai-sensei!"

Gai smiled, his teeth glinting, and gave her a thumb- up.

OoOoOo

_What happened...?_ Naruto asked himself, his thoughts sluggish. His entire body ached and it felt like someone was driving daggers into his brain. He could hear people talking near him and he slowly opened his eyes. As his vision cleared, Tenten's face slowly came into focus. "Tenten-chan?"

Tenten, who had been looking away from Naruto when he spoke, jumped slightly at the unexpected noise. Turning her gaze towards the blonde, a relieved smile appeared on her face. "Naruto-kun! You're okay."

Naruto laughed softly and carefully sat up, holding his head in his hands. "Yeah, but I feel like my head has a knife in it..." _When did she start calling me "-kun"?_ He thought hazily, unable to remember. His head suddenly snapped up, followed quickly by a grimace as his body protested the sudden movement. "Where's Mizuki?"

Pointing a finger behind Naruto, Tenten asked, "Why don't you see for yourself?"

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked, turning his head to look behind him. His eyes widened at what he saw.

Mizuki was tied up at the base of a large tree, talking incoherently in a low voice. A few feet away from him were Lee and Gai. Lee sat with the upper part of his jumpsuit removed, and Gai was wrapping a bloody wound on the boys back with bandages.

Lee raised a hand as he noticed Naruto's gaze. "Ah, Naruto-kun! It is good to see that you are awake!"

Naruto climbed gingerly to his feet, one hand on his head. "Damn, Lee! What happened?"

A grimace appeared on Lee's face. "It appears that today I was not youthful enough to conquer the will of my opponent. I shall remedy this soon however. As soon as we return to the village, I will do two-thousand push-ups! Followed by twenty laps around Konoha!"

Gai chuckled, "That's the spirit my young pupil! Let the flames of your youth shine!"

Tenten put her hands on her hips, the action causing her to wince slightly. "Lee, the only thing you're gonna do when we get back to the village is go to a hospital," she chided, but her voice betrayed her amusement.

"Tenten-chan?" Naruto whispered, his voice to low for anyone but Tenten to hear.

The brunette turned to face him, a good natured smile on her face. "What is it, Naruto-kun?"

"What happened to your..." he trailed off and gestured weakly towards her hands.

"Oh..." Tenten glanced down at the burns on her hands. "The Kyuubi burned me," she answered.

Naruto looked at her. "So I did do it... I-I'm sorry, Tenten-chan. I don't know-"

Tenten shook her head sharply, cutting him off. "No, Naruto-kun. You don't need to apologize to me." She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Like I said, the Kyuubi burned me, not you."

"But...the Kyuubi sealed inside of me. How can you even chance being near me after what you saw today?" Naruto asked, his voice shaky.

Sighing, Tenten said, "Geez, Naruto-kun, why wouldn't I be at ease around you after what I saw today?" She laughed softly before continuing, "I saw you take on a demon today. Not only that, I saw you _defeat _one."

"What if I can't do it again, what if he's stronger next time he tries to take over?" Naruto asked desperately, his fears spilling out. "What if things had gone wrong today? What if I had killed you? Killed Lee? What would have happened if I had been on the street in Konoha?"

Tenten was silent for a moment, but when she answered her voice was steady and firm. "But it didn't defeat you, Naruto-kun. You can't spend your time worrying about 'what ifs'. You were stronger, and that's all that matters." Taking his hand in hers, she added, "And as for the other part, I have faith in you. No matter how strong it gets, it will never be a match for your will power."

A small smile appeared on Naruto's face. "You...really have that much confidence in me?" he asked cautiously.

"Of course, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's smile spread into a wide grin. "Thank you, Tenten-chan."

"My, my!" Gai exclaimed, appearing beside them seemingly out of no where. His eyes drifted down to their hands. "Such a youthful display of love! It truly is a beautiful!"

Naruto and Tenten's gazes both fell to their hands and they quickly relinquished their grips, blushing.

"Ah, man, Gai-sensei! It's not like that! We were just talking!" Naruto yelled indignantly, waving his hands over his head.

Tenten sighed, "Geez, why are you always blowing things so out of proportion, Gai-sensei?" 

OoOoOo

A sharp knock echoed from the Hokage's door. "Enter," he called.

The door swung in, and a blonde shinobi in an orange vest walked into the office. "Hey old man, what do you need to see me for?" he asked. His voice carried a deep-set weariness that was unsuited to his usual demeanor.

The old man indicated the chair in front of his desk, "Please, Naruto-kun, have a seat," he said, smiling softly. After the blonde had sat down, Sarutobi continued, "I'm glad to see that you are feeling better. The doctors told me that you were suffering from extreme chakra exhaustion. Is this so?"

"Yeah."

"What of your teammates, how do they fare?" he asked.

Naruto sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Lee had a really bad stab wound under his shoulder blade. Apparently, he has to stay in the hospital for a few more days." A smile crossed the blonde's face, "But if he keeps sneaking out to train, they are probably gonna make him stay longer."

The Hokage chuckled, "Ah, yes. That sounds exactly like the young man. He does take so much after Gai, it is amazing that they have no blood between them. And what of your other teammate, Tenten?"

His eyes falling to the ground, Naruto was quiet for a long moment. "The doctors say she's fine. They said we got to the hospital soon enough that the burns won't scar, but she'll have to wear the bandages for a week or two." 

"That is good to hear, I am glad that neither of them suffered any-"

"What about Mizuki?" Naruto asked sharply, cutting the old man off. "What are you gonna do about him?"

Sarutobi took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. "Yes," he began, his voice deathly serious. "He is currently in the custody of the ANBU Black Ops for interrogation. After they have extracted the information that they need, he will be punished for treason."

"What is the sentence for treason?" asked Naruto, uncrossing his arms and leaning forward.

It took the Hokage a moment to answer, but when he did, he said only one word, "Death."

Naruto smirked, but the gesture held no mirth. "Good. I hope the bastard r-rots in...h-hell..." The blonde's voice became shaky and wiped franticly at his eyes. "He deserves every s-second for what he put my f-friends through."

Sarutobi stood and walked around his desk to stand beside Naruto. Placing one hand on the boy's shoulder, he whispered, "Calm down, Naruto-kun."

"How can I?" Naruto asked, jerking away from the Hokage's grip and rising to his feet. "Not only did he try and kill all of us and betray the village, but he told them!"

"Yes," the old man began, "I heard about Mizuki's slip of tongue."

Naruto wiped his eyes again, refusing to let the Hokage see his tears. "Th-then...IT took over!" The blonde began pacing back and forth quickly, waving his arms. "I've never felt so powerless before! It was like an ant trying to subdue an ocean!"

"And yet here you stand," Sarutobi said calmly. "Since the demon is obviously not in control, _something_ must have happened to turn the tides. May I ask what it was?"

Naruto stopped moving, seemingly frozen. When he answered, his voice had lost its waver. "I heard them. Lee, and...Tenten-chan. They were telling me to fight him." He looked the older man in the eyes. "I was so afraid that he would hurt them, but no matter how hard I fought, the fox would always push back harder."

"Then?"

Smiling, Naruto continued. "Then, it was as if Tenten-chan was standing right next to me, even in that void I could feel her hands on my shoulders." The blonde shook his head, "I don't know why, but after that I started to wear him down...it's...hard to explain."

Sarutobi nodded, "Well Naruto-kun, it was not how I wanted you to find out, but I suppose it was inevitable. It is, however, a shame that Mizuki told you in front of your friends. How are they reacting?"

Naruto plopped back down into his chair, his face in his hands. Looking up, he said, "It doesn't seem to bother them." Laughing, he continued, "In fact, I'm the only one who seems worried about it at all!"

The Hokage smiled, once again placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "You are lucky to have such understanding friends. Cherish them, and protect them with all your might. It will bring you much happiness.

Nodding, Naruto said, "Yeah, you're right. I really am lucky." He looked up the old man, "So, what now? I can't imagine everything's just gonna go back to normal, is it?"

"Well," Sarutobi began, chuckling, "For the most part, nothing will be changed." Walking back around to his own chair, he continued, "I have sent word to a friend of mine to come down to the village and reinforce your seal, it should keep it from slipping."

Naruto raised his eyebrow, "Really? What's his name?"

"Jiraiya."

OoOoOo

"Tenten-chan, do you have any fours?" asked Lee. He was sitting up in his hospital bed and he and Tenten were using his lunch cart as a table to play cards.

Sighing, Tenten answered, "Go fish, Lee," as the boy drew a card, Tenten asked, "Come on, can't we play a real card game? Like poker? Or black jack? You know, something fun?"

Lee gasped, looking very offended. As he opened his mouth to respond, a voice from the door called, in a mocking tone, "Now, Tenten-chan! I do not think that gambling is a very youthful use of your time! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Both genin turned to face the voice. The source of the noise, a blonde boy in an orange vest, was leaning against the door frame, grinning. "Naruto-kun!" the two cried in unison.

Tenten jumped to her feet and ran over to the blonde, wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh thank goodness, when we heard that you were summoned to the Hokage's quarters, we thought you were in trouble for stealing the scroll." Tenten blinked as she felt a desperate tapping on her shoulder, looking up, she saw that Naruto's face was almost purple from lack of oxygen. "Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly, letting him go.

After the brunette released her hold on him, Naruto took a deep breath, flooding his screaming lungs with oxygen. "Wow, Tenten-chan," Naruto laughed, "I think your strength could give Lee a run for his money!" Shaking his head, Naruto said, "Anyway, as far as me stealing the scroll goes, I've been cleared of all charges. After all, they can't punish a soldier for taking orders from another soldier of superior rank." 

Lee grinned, "That is good to hear, Naruto-kun!"

"Yeah," Tenten agreed, patting him on the shoulder.

"So," Naruto began, walking over to Lee's bedside. "Mind if I play?

OoOoOoOoOo

**And thus ends chapter five. I hope everyone enjoyed it. The last 1500 words or so were typed after I got home from work, fueled only by a can of Mountain Dew, and fairy magic. Sorry again for the hiatus, but chapter six will hopefully be out sooner. **

**P.S. If you read earlier, my beta notes were in the chapter. Hehe, my bad. I was rushing.**


End file.
